Wedding Bells
by cleotheo
Summary: When Lily Potter announces her intention to marry Scorpius Malfoy, it brings her family back into contact with Hermione, whom they abandoned for getting involved with Draco. Will Lily also be abandoned by her family, or will they learn to accept the man she loves? Dramione and Scorpius/Lily.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – As usual I've already wrote the entire story. Wedding Bells has 19 chapters in total. **

**This story is equal Dramione and Scorpius/Lily (With a bit of adult content for both couples). I was going to put Scorpius and Lily on the list of main characters, but I didn't want people complaining that technically the Scorpius in this story isn't the same as the one in canon. In this story Scorpius is very much Draco and Hermione's son. This story is also very much a group story. The Potters and Weasleys play a big part, as do the rest of the Malfoy family and the Zabinis. **

**As another point I just want to say that in this reality there has never been anything romantic between Hermione and Ron, they were purely friends. Ron got together with Lavender in sixth year, and they've been together ever since. I also kept the names Hugo and Rose for Ron and Lavender's children as it's easier than changing their names to something else. **

**I hope people enjoy the story.**

* * *

><p>As it usually was on a Sunday, The Burrow was a hive of activity as various members of the large Weasley family gathered at the family home. Molly and Arthur Weasley encouraged all their family to come to The Burrow whenever they wished, but Sundays were the main day that the family gathered. Molly always cooked a large Sunday lunch and there was always some of her family there for that meal. After lunch she always then laid on an afternoon spread of food and drink and anyone who visited on the afternoon could help themselves to refreshments.<p>

Over the years the Weasley family had grown significantly, not that it had ever been small considering that Molly and Arthur had seven children. Sadly one of their number was lost during the war when Fred tragically died, but the family had grieved together and moved on, although Fred was always with them in spirit and they never forgot him. Out of the other six Weasley children all but Charlie had married and had children of their own. In fact Molly and Arthur's eldest grandchild, Victoire, had recently had her first child with her husband Teddy Lupin, making the pair great-grandparents.

Apart from Charlie, who still lived abroad with his work at a dragon sanctuary, the only person who hadn't visited The Burrow in the previous few weeks was Ginny and Harry's youngest child, Lily. Lily was currently in France and had been there since leaving school two years ago. It was also Lily's imminent return home that was the main topic of conversation in the garden of the Burrow on a warm July day.

"I bet you're looking forward to having Lily back," Lavender Weasley remarked to Harry and Ginny. "I don't know what I would do if Rose had decided to go abroad when she finished school."

Rose was Lavender and Ron's youngest child and she had just finished at Hogwarts a few weeks previously. However, much to Lavender's relief Rose had no desire to go abroad, she was quite happily living at home as she applied for apprenticeships on various magazines and newspapers. Back before she and Ron had started a family, Lavender had worked as a gossip columnist on the Daily Prophet and Rose wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps.

"When is Lily back?" Ron questioned. "When did her course finish?"

"I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago and she said everything should have been finished this week," Ginny replied. "I asked if she wanted us to go and see her graduate, but she reckoned there was no big ceremony or anything. Basically she'll find out if she passed the course and get her qualifications."

Lily had headed to France to attend an exclusive wizarding culinary school in Paris. The school only ever accepted a small handful of students each year, so Lily had done extremely well just to be accepted. However, Harry and Ginny were both disappointed by the choice their daughter had made regarding her future life and career. Ginny had hoped that at least one of her children would take after her and think about a professional quidditch player, but none of them had. Their eldest son, James, had followed in Harry's footsteps and went straight into Auror training, while their second son, Albus, also started work at the Ministry in the Law Enforcement department alongside Lavender and Ron's son, Hugo. Lily however had no desire to go into any sort of law enforcement work, or even ministry work, she'd set her heart on becoming a professional chef so that was what she set out to do.

"Do you know if Lily has any plans?" Lavender continued to press. "Is she coming home, or will she stay in Paris?"

"Why would she stay in Paris?" Harry frowned at the idea of his youngest child moving to another country on a permanent basis. "This is her home, she only went over there to study. Although I'm sure she could have found somewhere just as good in this country."

"I don't know Harry, France is well known for its great cuisine." Ron gently pointed out to his best friend. "Lily would probably find it easier to get a job over there."

"Nonsense," Ginny tutted, glaring at her brother. "There's plenty of wizarding restaurants in this country, she could find work easily."

Realising that Lily was a touchy subject with the Potters, Ron and Lavender swiftly changed the conversation. Lavender engaged Ginny in talk about a new spa she'd been reading about, while Ron spoke to Harry about work and what jobs they had coming up. Directly after the war Harry and Ron had both entered Auror training and had become fully qualified Aurors. Over the years the pair had proven to be two of the best Aurors the department had ever seen and Harry rose to be Head Auror while Ron was his deputy. However a few years ago the pair decided they'd had enough of front line duty and they both left the Auror Department. Not wanting to be idle the pair set up a consultancy business, which had taken off spectacularly and they even had the Ministry of Magic as a client. The pair were also willing to share their experience with young Aurors and trainees, so they often spoke at lectures around the country and helped out with Auror training.

An hour later the subject of Lily was back again, but this time it was because Lily herself had just made a surprise appearance. Ginny had been quite happily making plans for the summer with Lavender when she looked up and spotted her daughter entering the garden via the back gate. Letting out a loud squeal of excitement, Ginny jumped up and raced across to Lily.

"Lily, you're home," Ginny cried, embracing the young redheaded witch in her arms.

"Hi, Mum." Lily smiled at her mother before she was swept up in Harry's arms.

Once Harry had finished greeting his daughter, several other members of the family were eager to greet Lily. Since leaving for France a couple of years ago she'd only been back for flying visits so the family had missed her. After hugging her grandparents, various aunts and uncles and a couple of cousins, Lily found herself being hugged by her two brothers.

"Wow you two must have missed me. You never hug me," Lily joked as James let her out of his arms.

"We're older and more mature now," Albus said to his little sister.

"Yeah right," Lily snorted. Both of her brothers were rather boisterous, and she couldn't imagine either of them being mature.

"Well, we're older," James laughed.

"Lily, come and get some food and tell us all about France," Molly urged her granddaughter.

Lily happily let her grandmother lead her across the lawn and over to where the food was spread out on a large table beside the back door. Lily had missed her grandmother's wonderful Sunday teas, so she piled her plate high with food before grabbing a drink and settling down on the grass. It had actually been Molly who had inspired Lily's love of cooking and food. From an early age Lily liked nothing better than helping Molly in the kitchen and the joy she got from cooking grew as she got older and she'd known for years that being a professional chef was what she wanted to do.

While Lily enjoyed her tea she told her family all about Paris. She spoke at length about the culinary school and all that she'd learnt there. She also told her family about Lyra, a girl she'd met at culinary school and became great friends with. The Weasleys were thrilled that Lily had made such a good friend as during her Hogwarts years she'd never really bonded with anyone in particular. Of course she'd had friends at school, but Lily was definitely the quietest of all the family and she'd never seemed to make a really good friend that she kept in touch with.

"So are you back home for good?" James asked his little sister.

"No." Lily shook her head. "Before anyone says anything, I have an announcement to make," She said quickly, spotting both her parents opening their mouths to argue. "I also met someone in France."

"Are you telling us you have a boyfriend?" Albus smirked. Back in Hogwarts any boy that might have been interested in Lily had been intimidated by her two older brother and the fact her father was Harry Potter, the war hero.

"I actually have a fiancé," Lily said.

"Fiancé," Harry repeated with wide eyes. "You're engaged?"

"Yes," Lily answered, showing her family the diamond engagement ring they'd all failed to notice. "And I really want you all to meet him. His family have asked everyone to dinner tomorrow evening."

"What's this boy's name?" Ginny questioned. She was totally stunned by the fact her little girl was engaged, but before she gave her opinion on the matter she wanted as much information as possible.

"Scorpius," Lily replied.

"Scorpius," Albus laughed. "What sort of a name is Scorpius?"

"You've got room to talk about dodgy names," Lily shot back at her brother.

"Don't insult my name," Albus spat at his sister. "I'm named after a great wizard."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know who you're named after." Lily rolled her eyes at Albus. "It doesn't stop the name being dodgy though," She muttered under her breath.

"That's enough," Harry said to his two youngest children. With only a year between them, Lily and Albus had always been more prone to bickering. "Lily, tell us more about this Scorpius. Is he French?"

"He was born and raised in France, but his parents are both English and he spends a lot of time in England with his grandparents," Lily answered her father. "Scorpius is Lyra's brother, and that's how I met him. He works at his family's company alongside his father. Scorpius and his family all came back to England with me, and as I said earlier they've invited anyone who wants to come for dinner tomorrow evening."

"And what's this boy's surname?" Harry asked. "We'll need to know if we're having dinner with him and his family."

Lily took a deep breath before divulging the bit of information she knew would cause a commotion with her family. "Malfoy. His name is Scorpius Malfoy."

Sure enough Lily's announcement was met by practically everyone shouting at her that she couldn't marry a Malfoy. Lily however ignored everyone as her focus was on her father who was turning bright red and looked as though he was on the verge of exploding.

"Malfoy," Harry exploded. "You cannot be serious, Lily. I will not allow you to marry a Malfoy."

"You don't have a choice," Lily said as she got to her feet. "I'm marrying Scorpius with or without your blessing." Reaching into her bag she pulled out a piece of folded parchment and placed it on the table, wedged under a plate so it wouldn't blow away. "There's the address of Scorpius's family. I really hope you'll at least come to dinner and give him a chance. Please, do it for me."

Ignoring the protests by her family, Lily turned and hurriedly left the garden of The Burrow. The second she was outside the house's boundary line she pulled out her wand and apparated away before any of her family saw the tears that were falling from her eyes. Even though she'd been expecting such a reaction from her family, it still hurt to have them all shouting at her and telling her what she could or couldn't do.

Lily's exit did little to calm things at The Burrow as several people expressed their disgust in her choice of boyfriend. Like the rest of the family, Lily had grown up hearing about the war and the part her family played in defeating Voldemort. That also meant she'd heard all about the families that had supported Voldemort, including the Malfoys. Of course with Harry as her father and Ron as the uncle she had the most contact with, Lily had also grown up knowing just how much the two men despised the Malfoys, especially Draco. As such everyone was shocked to hear who Lily had gotten herself involved with.

"What do we do?" A tearful Ginny asked Harry. "We can't let her marry a Malfoy."

"Don't worry, it won't happen," Harry replied confidently.

"I think you should all think very carefully before trying to tell Lily what to do," George advised his sister and brother-in-law. "Look at what happened with Hermione. You tried to do the same to her and now you haven't seen her in over twenty five years."

After the war Harry and Ron's best friend, Hermione Granger, had gone back to Hogwarts to take her final year and she'd ended up getting friendly with Draco Malfoy, who was repeating his last year as part of his probation. When the friendship turned to romance, Hermione informed Harry and Ron of the situation and her two friends didn't react very well to the news. They were convinced that Draco was just using Hermione to help his reputation after the war and they told her that as long as she was with the blond Slytherin that they couldn't be friends. Hermione refused to give up her relationship with Draco, and as a result Harry and Ron walked away from their friend and they hadn't seen or spoken to her since.

"That's not the same," Ron argued. "Hermione was our friend and we were just looking out for her. It's not our fault she walked away and didn't come back when things fell apart."

"What makes you so sure things fell apart for Hermione?" George's wife Angelina questioned.

"If Lily is involved with this Malfoy boy, he must be Malfoy's son," Harry replied. "That means Malfoy is married, and there's no way Lucius Malfoy would have allowed his son to marry a muggleborn."

"Malfoy was never going to marry Hermione," Ron snorted. "He was using her so people would think he was making an effort to change. I bet the second they left school, he dumped Hermione and got cosy with some pureblood snob."

"If that's the case, why didn't Hermione get back in touch?" George asked.

"You know what Hermione was like. She'll have been too stubborn to admit she'd made a mistake," Ginny said. "She wouldn't want to come crawling back to have to admit she was wrong all along and we were right."

"Whether you're right or wrong about Hermione, don't make the same mistake with Lily," George warned as he and Angelina stood up to leave. "She's an adult, you can't tell her who she can or can't marry. If she wants to marry the Malfoy boy, you'll have to accept it."

"Is George right?" Ginny quietly asked Harry as her brother and his wife made their exit.

"I don't know," Harry said quietly. "I don't want to lose Lily, but I don't want her marrying a Malfoy either."

"Why don't we reserve judgement until after tomorrow evening?" Arthur suggested. "We can go to dinner and meet this Scorpius before deciding what we're going to do."

"He'll be just like his bloody father," Ron complained.

"That's what I'm worried about," Harry sighed.

"As I said, let's reserve judgement until we've met the boy," Arthur cautioned.

"We will," Harry promised his father-in-law. "But if he's anything like his father, we're finding a way to get Lily away from him."

Ginny, Molly, Ron, James and Albus all nodded along in agreement with Harry's vow. None of them were happy about Lily being involved with a Malfoy and if they got their way things would be over very swiftly. Hopefully one dinner would be all they had to sit through before they managed to get Lily away from the Malfoys, and back home with her family where she belonged.


	2. Chapter 2

When she left The Burrow, Lily headed straight to London which was where she was due to meet her fiancé. Scorpius had offered to accompany Lily to The Burrow, but the redhead had decided it was wiser she broke the news of her engagement on her own. Instead they agreed that Lily would go and speak to her family and when she was finished she would meet up with Scorpius, and the couple would spend some time together before heading back to the manor where they were currently staying with Scorpius's family.

Once she arrived in London, Lily took a few minutes to compose herself and tidy herself up before she headed into the bar where she was due to meet her fiancé. Entering the bar, Lily immediately spotted Scorpius sitting in a corner booth. With his platinum blond hair he was incredibly easy to spot, although in Lily's opinion it helped that he was possibly one of the best looking men in the room. One of the only people in the bar that possibly could have rivalled her fiancé in the looks department was sitting opposite him in the form of Scorpius's best friend, Alex Zabini. Alex was also Lyra's boyfriend and Lily was pleased to find her best friend sitting with Scorpius and Alex.

"Hey Lil, how did it go?" Lyra asked when Lily made her way over to the group.

"As expected," Lily sighed, sliding into the seat next to Scorpius. "They weren't happy when I mentioned who I was engaged to."

"I'm sorry, baby." Scorpius put his arm around his fiancée and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I should have been with you, maybe I could have talked to them."

"No offence Scorp, but you being there wouldn't have helped. You look so much like your father that my family would have kicked off before we'd even had a chance to say hello," Lily said gently. Apart from the fact that Scorpius wasn't as pale as Draco and his features weren't quite as sharp as his father's, he was a dead ringer for the wizard her entire family hated. "At least this way I got a chance to say my piece and I managed to leave your grandparents address for tomorrow night."

"Do you think anyone will turn up tomorrow night?" Alex asked. He and his parents would be present at the meal as his parents were best friends with Scorpius's parents and they were also Scorpius's godparents. Not to mention the Malfoys and Zabinis were almost as close as family, and thought of each other as such.

"I hope so," Lily replied. "I hope that at least someone will at least try to be civil. It'll be so embarrassing if no-one turns up."

"If they don't turn up, we'll try again," Scorpius promised his fiancée. "I won't let you lose your family Lily."

"Even you might not be able to promise me that," Lily said, smiling at her fiancé. Scorpius had always treated Lily as though she was the most precious witch on earth, and she knew he would go to any lengths to ensure she was happy.

"I'll do my very best," Scorpius promised. He knew there was a chance he wouldn't be able to get Lily's family to accept him, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight. That last thing he wanted was for the witch he loved to lose her entire family just because she happened to fall in love with him.

"I know you will," Lily responded, before pressing her lips against his.

Scorpius instantly responded by pulling Lily closer and taking control of the kiss. What had started off as a simple peck became a full on heated kiss as Scorpius took charge. Lily's hands came up to run through Scorpius's shaggy white blond hair as she moaned quietly as her fiancé's tongue invaded her mouth.

"Knock it off you two," Lyra cried in dismay. "I don't need to see my best friend and brother all over each other."

"And what about me?" Scorpius questioned breathlessly as he and Lily separated. "I've been sitting here for the last half hour watching you locking lips with my best friend."

"It was one kiss," Lyra protested.

"It lasted almost ten minutes, and he managed to get your underwear off you," Scorpius retorted.

"How do you know that?" Alex frowned. At the time when he'd managed to slip Lyra's skimpy underwear into his pocket his friend was at the bar, even he wouldn't have tried to remove his girlfriend's underwear with her brother sitting opposite.

"They've been sticking out of your pocket ever since." Scorpius pointed to where there was a scrap of emerald green material hanging from Alex's trouser pocket.

"Shit," Alex swore, stuffing the underwear deeper into his pocket while the other three laughed at him.

"You two are incorrigible," Lily giggled. Before she befriended Lyra something like this would have had her turning bright red, but Lyra and then Scorpius had brought out her wilder side.

"Thank you, it's a talent." Alex grinned cockily, reminding Lily of his father.

If Scorpius was a miniature version of his father, then the same could be said about Alex. Alex had inherited all the Zabini charm, as well as Blaise's devastatingly handsome good looks. Between them the pair could appeal to almost every witch, for those who didn't fall for Alex's tall, dark and handsome good looks and charming personality there was Scorpius's more reserved, but equally as charming personality combined with his statuesque good looks and killer body to fall for. Lily was under no illusions that before her, Scorpius had been a bit of a ladies man like Alex, but like his best friend the second he entered a relationship he was as committed as they came.

"I say we stop worrying about tomorrow and have fun," Lyra suggested. "Let's celebrate the fact that you two are getting married."

"I'll drink to that," Lily grinned. It would be nice to forget about her family's reaction for a few hours, she would have plenty of time later to worry about whether or not anyone would show up to dinner the following day.

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At Malfoy Manor, Hermione Malfoy stood at the window in the bedroom she was sharing with her husband. Hermione's gaze was focused on the gorgeous gardens of the manor, but her thoughts were firmly with her future daughter-in-law. No matter how hard she tried, Hermione just couldn't help wondering how Lily was getting on with her family. She had first-hand experience of how harshly the family could react when it came to the Malfoy family and she was just hoping they wouldn't be as harsh on Lily as what they were on her years ago.

When Hermione first got involved with Draco in the aftermath of the war, she was well aware of the problems they would face. For years Draco had been on the opposite side of things to her and her friends, and it was no secret that he didn't get along with Harry and Ron. However the war had changed a lot of things in the wizarding world, and after everything he went through it was understandable that Draco would be one of those most affected. The full extent of what Draco had suffered at Voldemort's hands had been revealed after the war, and that played a major part in the decision not to punish him any further for what he'd been forced to do. As long as he attended Hogwarts to gain his exams and proved he could get along in life without having to resort to using dark magic, he was a free man.

After the war and the truth about what Draco and his family had gone through had been revealed even Harry and Ron agreed he didn't deserve to be in Azkaban. Before Hermione went back to school both her friends were of the opinion that Draco should be given a second chance, which was why she hadn't expected them to react so badly when she told them of her blossoming romance with Draco. The second Hermione informed her friends she was dating the blond wizard, their opinions shifted and they insisted she end things. Both Harry and Ron were adamant Draco was just using her to prove to people he had change and when he got what he wanted he would drop Hermione like a hot potato.

Nothing Hermione said could persuade her friends that her relationship with Draco was genuine, and they kept up the insistence that she ended things with her boyfriend. Even though at that stage in the relationship it was early days, Hermione knew enough to know she was rapidly falling for Draco and they could have something special. Not willing to give up the wizard she was falling in love with, Hermione told her friends that she wasn't ending things with Draco. While she expected them to remain upset at her, she didn't expect them to end their friendship with her and walk away. Harry and Ron made it clear that as long as she was with Draco they couldn't be friends with her, but to feel free to look them up when Draco dumped her and they were proven right.

As it turned out her friends were completely wrong and things never ended with Draco. Once they were finished school the pair decided to go on holiday to a villa Draco's family owned in France. Once in France, Draco asked Hermione if she would be up for moving to the country permanently as he wanted to get away from the media attention back home. Considering she was a war heroine, Hermione was also a popular topic in the press, meaning their relationship was always been gossiped about, so she could completely understand Draco's desire to get away from things. With her friends disowning her and her parents having chosen to remain in Australia after the war, Hermione saw no reason to return home so she was more than happy to agree to stay in France.

Since then France was where the couple had stayed and that was where their lives were. Draco worked for the family business and set up new headquarters in Paris, while Hermione went to work for a respectable museum in the French capital, where she was now head curator alongside been a well-respected historian. Along the way the pair had gotten married and of course they had their two amazing children, Scorpius and Lyra.

Until Lyra had went to culinary school and met Lily, Hermione hadn't thought about her former friends in years. Occasionally she would read about them in the press when she and Draco were in England, but it long since ceased to affect her the way it once had. However meeting Lily had brought back very vivid memories of her friends, partially because Lily was a perfect replica of her parents with her long red hair like her mother's and the same sparkling green eyes as her father.

Hermione and her family had been completely honest with Lily about their connection to her family, although Hermione was very careful that neither she nor Draco spoke badly about Lily's parents or extended family. It would have been so easy for the hurt and betrayal Hermione had suffered at her friend's hands to cloud what she and Draco said to Lily, but Hermione was adamant that wasn't happening. Hermione told Lily how much it had saddened her to lose her friends, but at the same time she also made it clear that she wouldn't change her decision for anything. Draco was her whole world, and she wouldn't swap her life with him for anything, she just wished her friends had been able to accept her choices and been happy for her.

Thinking about the choice her friends had forced her to make all those years ago had Hermione hoping that they wouldn't do the same to Lily. She was hoping that fact Lily was actually family would ensure that sense prevailed and even if they didn't like her choice in partner they would accept it. It would be heart-breaking if her friends made the same mistake again with Lily and they ended up driving the young witch away.

"Are you still brooding?" Draco questioned as he entered the room to find his wife staring unseeingly out of the window.

"I don't brood," Hermione retorted, dragging herself out of her thoughts and back to the present. "That's your forte."

"No-one can brood quite like a Malfoy," Draco joked.

"Tell me about it," Hermione said with a laugh as Draco pulled her into his arms. "I've lived with you for over twenty five years. I know how well you can brood."

"It would appear some of my talent has rubbed off on you," Draco replied seriously. "You've been quiet all day."

"Sorry. I just can't help worrying about Lily."

"They won't force her to choose," Draco stated confidently.

"How do you know that?" Hermione questioned nervously. "What if they try forbidding the wedding? Lily could end up with no family, and that could destroy her relationship with Scorpius."

"I don't doubt the Potters and Weasleys will dislike what's happening, but I can't see them doing anything that would lose them Lily. They may not be my favourite people in the world, but even I can admit they're very family orientated. At the end of the day their love for their family will outweigh their bad feelings for us."

"I hope you're right," Hermione sighed.

"I'm always right." Draco grinned cockily, giving Hermione's backside a squeeze as he attempted to distract his wife from her worries. "And right now, I say you need to relax."

"Any ideas how I can achieve that?" Hermione asked with a sly smile.

"Firstly you can't relax wearing clothes," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear as his hands trailed up his wife's back and found the zipper to her dress.

Hermione shivered in anticipation as Draco slowly the slid the zipper of her dress down, even after all these years together one touch was enough to have her burning for him. Still working slowly, Draco slid the straps of Hermione's dress down her arms and tugged the material down her body until it was lying in a pool at her feet. Smirking at his wife, Draco took the time to admire her slim, toned body in her black and silver underwear set. Even in her forties Hermione had a body most younger witches would die for, and it never failed to get a reaction from Draco. Hermione smirked when she saw the tent forming in her husband's trousers, but when she reached for his belt, Draco gently smacked her hands away.

"Not yet," He told her. "We're making sure you relax, and you're not quite there yet."

"I'll relax quicker if you were wearing less," Hermione retorted.

Draco chuckled at Hermione before quickly unbuttoning his shirt and throwing it onto a nearby chair. He then yanked off his socks, followed by his trousers, leaving him in a pair of dark green boxers. Like Hermione, Draco had also kept in shape and happily for the pair of them he was just as energetic as he had been when he was younger, and his stamina was still second to none.

"Is that better?" Draco questioned.

"For now," Hermione replied.

"Let's get back to helping you relax," Draco said, moving so he was standing back in front of his wife. "Underwear is not at all relaxing, it needs to come off."

Draco grinned at his wife as he reached behind her and expertly unclipped her bra. Sliding the thin straps down her arms, he pulled the lacy material away from his wife's breasts and discarded it behind him. With grey eyes hungrily roaming over her body, Draco knelt down in front of Hermione and hooked his fingers in the side of her knickers. Slowly he slid the black material down his wife's legs, leaving her completely naked to his gaze.

"Bed?" Hermione questioned breathlessly. Even though Draco hadn't actually touched her, his heated gaze was enough to ignite her arousal.

Draco looked up and was just about to nod when his eyes fell to the desk in front of the smaller window. Grinning wickedly he stood up and grabbed hold of Hermione's hand, leading her to the desk. Sweeping the few contents of the desk to the floor, he told his wife to hop on. Hermione did as she was told and perched on the edge of the antique desk.

"I do love you on a desk," Draco smirked, as he placed a hand on both of his wife's knees and spread her legs.

"I know." Hermione's chuckle in response turned into a loud moan as her husband's hand began stroking her inner thigh, working its way to her aching centre.

"I love how responsive you are," Draco told to his wife as he connected their lips in a passionate kiss. "You're so wet and I haven't even touch you yet."

Hermione moaned in response to both Draco's words and the fact his hand was creeping ever closer to where she wanted to be touched so desperately. Draco smirked into the kiss as he deliberately kept his hand hovering near to Hermione's core, but never quite touching her where she wanted.

"Tease," Hermione hissed as Draco tore his lips away from hers and latched onto her neck while his hands gently cupped her breasts and his thumbs brushed against her hardened nipples.

"I'm only a tease if I don't deliver," Draco muttered against Hermione's neck, before he raised his head to look his wife in the eye. "And I'm planning on delivering, right now."

When Draco suddenly took a step away from her, Hermione growled in frustration. However, her growl soon turned into a contented purr when Draco yanked his boxer's down his legs and stepped out of the material. The second Draco stepped back towards her, Hermione had her hand wrapped around his large erection, guiding him to where she wanted him. In one well practiced motion, Draco slid into Hermione as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Connecting their lips in a searing kiss the couple began to move effortlessly together. Considering they'd chosen a desk as their preferred place of action they both knew the encounter would be fast and furious, but there'd be plenty of time for leisurely lovemaking when they moved to the bed afterwards. With years of practice behind them the couple easily found a comfortable position that would ensure they both had a good time.

"Draco!" Hermione cried, arching against her husband. "Just a bit more."

Draco followed Hermione's advice and maintaining his steady rhythm, he pushed his wife over the edge. As Hermione was screaming out her own climax, Draco followed suit with his own release.

"Are you relaxed yet?" Draco panted as he used the desk to keep him standing upright.

"I'm getting there," Hermione replied, equally as breathless as her husband. "Although a lie-down might be nice."

"You can say that again," Draco muttered as he helped Hermione off the desk and the pair flopped onto the nearby bed. "I think I'm getting too old for desks."

"Never," Hermione laughed. Draco had been saying that for the last few years, but every time he got her alone in his office or study he had to take her over the desk.

"Maybe not," Draco conceded, not liking the thought of never using a desk again. "But I think the bed is the preferable place to be for the rest of the day."

"I like that plan." Hermione smiled as they connected their lips again and the relaxation continued.


	3. Chapter 3

The closer it got to dinner time the more Lily worried about her family not showing up. In a bid to keep his fiancée's mind of things, Scorpius had taken Lily for a comprehensive stroll around the manor's gardens earlier that day. The walk had worked for the period of time they were gone from the manor. Of course it had helped that Scorpius had turned on the charm and the pair had ended up having a bit of alfresco fun on the grass beside the large lake that was situated at the very bottom of the garden. Luckily the lake was hidden from view of the manor by some trees, but even so there was an element of risk in the young couple's actions as they could very well have been caught. Happily for them they weren't caught and their afternoon romp was now a naughty but fun memory.

While Scorpius's plan to distract Lily worked for most of the day, as they began getting dressed for the evening her doubts started to creep back into her head and there was nothing Scorpius could do to ease them. As well as the fears that her family wouldn't turn up, Lily began doubting the way she'd handled things the previous afternoon.

She was now beginning to wonder if she should have stayed longer and tried to talk to her family. She'd made the decision to leave as quickly because she didn't want to get into an argument and say anything she would regret. She may have been one of the quietest members of the family, but she was no pushover and was very capable of holding her own against her family. Even without staying longer, she was also wondering if she should have tried to speak to her parents that day. Instead of letting herself be distracted by Scorpius, she could have gone to speak to her parents and ensured they were coming to dinner. However it was too late now and all she could do was wait and see if they turned up.

Although if her family did turn up, she had more worries about how she'd handled things. Had she made it clear enough that any of her family who wished to come had been invited? Narcissa and Lucius had been kind enough to tell Lily to invite as many of her large family as she wanted, but Lily was now worrying that she hadn't made that clear enough. What if just her parents showed up and they were upset that the rest of the family could have come as well. Lily was now thinking she should have made that point clearer so that they knew the invitation encompassed the whole family.

Then there was Hermione to consider. Should she have mentioned who Scorpius's mother was? Growing up Lily had been aware that her father and uncle had a female friend who'd played a big part in how they'd defeated Voldemort and they'd had a falling out after the war and hadn't seen each other since. However, until she actually met Hermione she didn't know the real reason for the falling out. Now she knew the truth, she was wondering if she should have warned her family that they would be seeing Hermione again. Then again, surely they had to realise it was a possibility that they would see their old friend since they knew all about her relationship with Draco. Or were they so stubborn that they refused to even consider the fact they might have been wrong all those years ago?

Letting out a long sigh, Lily dropped her head into her hands. The night was going to be a disaster, she just knew it. Even if by some miracle some of her family showed up, she just knew they were going to cause trouble. As she contemplated what a terrible night it was going to be, Lily felt Scorpius come up behind her. Without saying a word, Scorpius dropped a kiss to the side of her neck and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Is it too late to cancel tonight?" Lily asked, turning to look at her fiancé.

"I'm afraid so," Scorpius chuckled. "We're actually due downstairs any minute."

"It's going to be fine," Lily said to herself as she finished applying her jewellery and spritzed herself with her perfume.

"Of course it's going to be fine," Scorpius reassured his fiancée. "Now let's go downstairs, and enjoy ourselves. We're celebrating, remember."

Lily nodded as she took hold of Scorpius's hand and the pair made their way through the vast corridors of the Manor and down to the front room. Considering they had no idea how many of Lily's family were going to show up it had been decided that everyone would gather for drinks in the front room and once they had a solid number for dinner, Narcissa would go and inform the elves who would ensure the table was set for the right amount of people and that there was sufficient food.

When she entered the front room, Lily suddenly had another thought; should she have told her family to dress up if they were planning on coming to dinner? Lily knew from experience that the Malfoys were very classy, especially Lucius and Narcissa. While she'd often seen Draco and Hermione wearing casual clothes she'd yet to see Scorpius's grandparents look anything other than immaculately put together in what was seemingly their best clothes. Tonight was a perfect example, with Lucius wearing a set of black dress robes that looked brand new and Narcissa in an expensive looking sapphire evening gown. Even Hermione looked dressier than normal in an emerald green halter neck dress and her best friend, Daphne Zabini looked equally classy in her deep plum floor length dress.

"I should have mentioned getting dressed up," Lily hissed to Scorpius. Looking down at the dress she was wearing she realised that she was also more dressed up than she would normally be for having dinner with her family.

"I'm sure your family won't show up looking casual," Scorpius replied soothingly. He was guessing that if any of Lily's family did show up they would be dressed up, just to prove they weren't intimidated by the Malfoys.

"I still should have warned them," Lily sighed.

"Stop worrying, and let's get a drink," Scorpius said.

Taking hold of Lily's hand he led her across the room to where Lyra and Alex were sitting chatting next to the drinks cabinet. Scorpius poured himself and Lily a drink and the couple settled down to talk to Lyra and Alex. Even though she was talking to her best friend, Lily's attention kept wandering around the room as she waited for her family to turn up. Draco and Daphne were sitting chatting on the sofa, while Blaise looked to be regaling Narcissa with some humorous anecdote. Hermione and Lucius meanwhile had disappeared, and Lily had no idea where they had gone.

Shortly after she noticed Hermione and Lucius's disappearing act, Lily jumped up when the front doorbell went. In the note she'd left at The Burrow she'd given co-ordinates for her family to apparate to and she'd been assured that they'd be allowed to apparate onto the property. Using the floo network might have been easier, but it was decided that apparition and entering through the front door was preferable to having Lily's family suddenly stepping from a fireplace somewhere in the manor.

"It's going to be okay," Scorpius told Lily, taking hold of her hand as Narcissa went off to answer the door.

Lily squeezed Scorpius's hand and took comfort from having him right beside her as she prepared to face her family.

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"I can't believe they expect us to go to Malfoy Manor," Ron grumbled as the family gathered at Harry and Ginny's place so they could go to dinner with Lily.

"If it bothers you, then you don't have to come," Arthur told his youngest son.

As Lily's parents, Harry and Ginny were obviously going to dinner to meet their daughter's fiancé, and Molly and Arthur were going as concerned grandparents. James and Albus were also insistent that they went along to meet the wizard who wanted to marry their little sister. However, Ron and Lavender had also decided they should be there as the aunt and uncle that Lily had the most interaction with. Everyone knew Ron and Lavender were only going as they hated to be left out of things, but Harry was more than happy to have his best friend alongside him since he was going to have to endure an evening with his childhood enemy.

"If we're all ready, we should go," Ginny announced. "We don't want to be late and give the Malfoy's anything to hold against us."

"I'm sure they'll find something anyway," Harry muttered as the group prepared to leave.

Ginny shot her husband a warning glare before everyone left the familiar surroundings of the Potters house and apparated to Malfoy Manor. With the coordinates Lily had left the family soon found themselves standing meters away from the imposing looking manor. Despite the manor's size, it no longer looked like a dark and dreary place, instead it looked very welcoming. Several rooms inside the manor were lit up and the light shone through the windows, while the front of the house was illuminated by a light hanging beside the front door.

"This isn't exactly what I was expecting," James remarked. From the stories his father and uncle had told he'd fully expected to be visiting some large gothic manor which gave you goose bumps, instead the manor just looked like a very large welcoming house.

"It wasn't always like this," Ron said as the group made their way to the front door. "The place used to be dark and foreboding."

Issuing everyone with a final warning to behave, Ginny rang the doorbell. The family waited with baited breath for a few minutes, until the door opened revealing a large brightly lit front hallway and a smiling Narcissa. Despite the years it had been since anyone had seen Narcissa in person the witch was instantly recognisable and looked to have aged excellently. In fact she only looked a few years older than the last time anyone had seen her, she certainly didn't look old enough to have a middle aged son and grandchildren in their twenties.

"Come in." Narcissa stepped aside and let the assembled Potters and Weasleys into the Manor. "Feel free to hang up your coats and bags."

Once everyone had deposited their coats, Narcissa explained that they were having drinks in the living room before dinner. Leading the way across the marble hallway, Narcissa pulled open a pair of double doors and allowed the family entrance into the living room. The group had no sooner entered the room when Lily approached them, holding hands with a tall blond wizard who could only be Scorpius. Much to Harry's dismay the young wizard was an exact replica of his father and apart from a few minor differences he could have sworn he was standing in front of a younger Draco Malfoy.

"I'm so pleased you all came," Lily smiled at her family. "This is Scorpius," She said, introducing her fiancé to her family.

"Mr and Mrs Potter, it's lovely to meet you." Scorpius smiled politely at Lily's parents as he shook their hands. "Lily has told me so much about you."

"I wish she'd done the same with you," Harry grumbled. "Your existence has come as a bit of a shock for us."

Not wanting trouble to start so soon, Lily quickly introduced Scorpius to her grandparents. She then introduced him to Ron and Lavender, before turning to her brothers. She knew James and Albus would likely try to intimidate Scorpius, but she also knew her fiancé wasn't easily intimated. It would take more than her brothers to worry Scorpius. Sure enough both James and Albus gave Scorpius a stern glare as they shook his hand, but the blond wizard merely smiled politely at his future brothers-in-law and said how happy he was to meet them.

"Hey Harry," Ron hissed, elbowing his friend in the ribs as Lily was introducing Scorpius to James and Albus. "Have you seen Malfoy over there?"

Harry looked across the room to where Draco was sitting on the sofa with a good looking witch, who was most definitely not Hermione. Harry thought there was something familiar about the witch and as he looked at her he realised they'd gone to school with her. Draco was sitting with Daphne Greengrass, a pureblood Slytherin.

"I knew it," Harry muttered to Ron. "Look he's clearly married to Daphne Greengrass. I bet he dumped Hermione as soon as we were out of the picture."

"Bloody git," Ron grumbled. "We should go and give him a piece of our minds."

"We should," Harry smirked. "After all it's only polite I go and say hello, especially if we're going to be family."

In the time it had taken Harry and Ron to have their whispered conversation, their family had all wandered further into the room. Narcissa was talking politely with Molly and Arthur, while Ginny and Lavender were accepting drinks of a wizard who appeared to be Blaise Zabini. James and Albus meanwhile had gone with Lily and Scorpius across the room, to where two other younger people were sitting.

"I notice Lucius Malfoy isn't anywhere to be seen," Ron remarked as the pair crossed the living room.

"He's probably sulking because his grandson's gotten involved with Lily," Harry replied quietly, making sure Draco didn't hear him as they approached the blond man.

"Potter, Weasley." Draco greeted the two men with a nod as he rose from his seat. "Can I get you a drink?"

Not wanting to be impolite Harry and Ron both asked for a firewhisky. While Draco headed off to the where the drinks were sitting nearby, Harry and Ron turned their attention to Daphne, who was still sitting on the sofa.

"We went to school together, didn't we?" Harry said. "You're Daphne Greengrass."

"I haven't been Greengrass in a long time, but yes we went to school together," Daphne replied, shocked that Harry had even remembered her from school.

"Of course, it's Malfoy now," Ron said, just as Draco reappeared with the drinks. "You're Scorpius's mother."

"Actually I'm his godmother," Daphne chuckled as she stood up. "I'm married to Blaise, and that's my son over there talking to Lily and Scorpius."

"My wife will be back shortly," Draco told the duo as he handed them their drinks. "Father needed her expert opinion on something in his study, but I'm sure they'll be back to join in the fun very soon."

"Here she is now," Daphne said, gesturing to the door before she turned and made her way towards Blaise.

Harry and Ron whirled round to get their first look of the witch that Draco had married. What they didn't expect to see was Hermione entering the room arm in arm with Lucius Malfoy. Between the shock of seeing Hermione and seeing how well she interacted with Lucius, the pair's mouths dropped open in surprise. Of all the things they'd expected to experience at the Manor, running into Hermione wasn't one of them.

"I really don't know why you're so surprised to see Hermione," Draco told the stunned pair. "Of course you expected me to dump her, so I guess that's why you're so shocked. Obviously it never occurred to either of you that I was genuine with my feelings for Hermione, and that I was serious about making a go of things with her."

Leaving Harry and Ron to deal with their shock, Draco made his way over to his wife where he made sure to greet her with a searing kiss. Hermione knew exactly why her husband had greeted her so exuberantly, but she had no problem with returning the kiss and putting on a show for her old friends. Let them see how wrong they had been and how happy she and Draco had ended up. By the time the couple had finished kissing, Harry and Ron had made their way over to the couple as had Ginny and Lavender.

"Hermione," Ron whispered tentatively, as if he wasn't sure he was standing in front of his former friend.

"Hello Ronald." Hermione smiled tightly at Ron before she turned to the others. "Harry, Ginny, Lavender."

"So you married Malfoy," Ginny stated. "I have to admit, I never saw that one coming."

"Of course you didn't," Draco snorted. "You all thought I was using Hermione and would dump her once I'd had my fun."

"To be fair that seemed the most logical conclusion to come to," Harry muttered.

"The most logical conclusion would have been for you to trust me," Hermione retorted. "I told you I knew what I was doing, but you lot thought you knew best."

"Sorry," Ginny offered.

"It's too late for sorry," Hermione said. "We can however forget about the past and try to get along for our children's sake."

"I'm sure we can manage that," Harry said.

"Good," Hermione nodded, just as Narcissa announced that dinner was ready.

Leaving their awkward conversation with Hermione to one side, the two couples followed Draco and Hermione to the dining room. Molly and Arthur had been shown the way to the dining room by Narcissa and James and Albus arrived with Lily and Scorpius. Within a few minutes everyone had arrived from the living room and they all settled down to eat.

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Next chapter is the dinner, and a further surprise for the Potter's/Weasley's.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N – This chapter starts from when Lily's family arrived at the Manor, and deals with what happened with Scorpius, Lily and her brothers before moving onto dinner.**

* * *

><p>Lily didn't know whether to be relieved or worried when her family didn't immediately start bombarding Scorpius with questions upon first meeting him. She was pleased that they hadn't started on her fiancé straight away, but she wasn't sure if their lack of questions meant they weren't going to come round and support her engagement. Lily was also slightly surprised by how quickly her family moved off and away from her and Scorpius. Within seconds of meeting Scorpius her grandparents were talking hesitantly with Narcissa, while her Mother and Aunt Lavender were being charmed by Blaise, who had approached offering them drinks. Meanwhile her Father and Uncle Ron were muttering between themselves and casting dark looks over at Draco.<p>

"Let's get your brother's a drink," Scorpius said to Lily.

Knowing Scorpius's father was more than capable of handling things if Harry and Ron approached him, Lily headed off with her fiancé and brothers. Just as they reached the corner where Lyra and Alex were sitting. Lily spotted her father and uncle approaching Draco. However she was soon distracted from their antics by the awed expressions on her brother's faces when they spotted Lyra.

Lyra was wearing a black and white patterned dress, and the way she was sitting her long, tanned legs were on full display, which seemed to have caught Albus's attention in particular. Lily wasn't at all surprised that her brothers found Lyra attractive as most men did. With her brunette curls that fell to just below her shoulders, her piercing grey eyes and flawless complexion Lyra was a gorgeous girl. Of course it also helped that she was always smiling and had such a lovely, warm personality.

"James, Albus, this is my best friend and Scorpius's sister, Lyra," Lily said, introducing the pair and hoping they weren't going to embarrass her with their drooling.

"It's nice to meet the pair of you." Lyra smiled warmly at the two dark haired brothers.

"It's nice to meet you too." James smiled back at Lyra, his charm kicking in once he'd recovered from meeting such a stunning witch.

"I'm Alex Zabini," Alex told James and Albus as he slung his arm possessively around Lyra's shoulder. "I'm Lyra's boyfriend."

"Aren't you the lucky one," Albus muttered, still unable to take his eyes off Lyra's long legs.

"I am," Alex grinned. "Very lucky."

"What can I get you to drink?" Scorpius asked the two newcomers as his best friend proceeded to stake his claim on his little sister by giving her a heated kiss.

"Firewhisky please," James replied as he turned away from a kissing Lyra and Alex.

Albus also asked for a firewhisky, but he found it harder to tear his eyes away from the couple in front of him. He was completely shocked that they would indulge in such a heated kiss in front of Lyra's brother and especially when her parents and grandparents were also present in the room. He wouldn't dream of kissing any girl like that if his family were around.

A few minutes later, Albus discovered that displays of public affection were pretty common in the Malfoy household as Scorpius and Lyra's parents made a show of kissing each other. James was also rather taken aback by Draco and Hermione's actions, and he was amazed that neither Scorpius nor Lyra seemed bothered by their parent's antics. No doubt if his parents kissed like that in public he would die of embarrassment.

"Did that really not bother either of you?" James asked the Malfoys as their parents had stopped kissing and were now talking to his parents, uncle and aunt.

"The kissing?" Lyra questioned. "We're used to that. Mum and Dad have always had an affectionate relationship, we're used to seeing displays like those."

"And we've all seen a lot worse," Alex chuckled. "Seriously, you never enter Draco and Hermione's house unawares, you never know what you might catch them up to."

James and Albus's eyes bulged at the insinuation, but luckily they were saved further embarrassment by Narcissa announcing that dinner was ready. Scorpius and Lily ensured her brothers found their way to the dining room and found a seat around the long table.

"Does everyone have drinks?" Lucius asked once everyone was seated.

After sorting out the few people who had finished their drinks in the living room, or in Blaise's case had put it down somewhere and he couldn't remember where, dinner was served. As people began to eat their starter, there was an awkward silence in the air. Obviously they all knew they were there to get to know one another, but years of bad feeling between the two families made it difficult. Luckily Arthur took the lead, thanking Lucius and Narcissa for inviting them all for dinner.

"We have to get to know one another since we're going to become family," Narcissa replied with a smile.

"It's still very nice of you to play host," Arthur said.

Throughout the rest of the starter the group made small talk, but once the main meal was served the conversation switched to Lily and her immediate plans for the future. The previous day she'd briefly told her family she wasn't retuning home, but then she'd dropped the bombshell that she was engaged, so they'd never explored her admission. However, Harry now intended to find out what his daughter planned on doing with her life.

"What happens now you've finished culinary school?" Harry asked his daughter. "Will you be looking for a job in the catering industry?"

"No, I don't need to," Lily replied.

"I hope you don't intend to be a kept woman," Ginny tutted. When she left school she could have quite easily have done nothing and been content to let Harry look after her, but she'd gone out and forged a career for herself before they'd had children.

"I don't need to look for a job, because I already know what I'm going to do," Lily said, hoping her mother hadn't offended Narcissa since Scorpius's grandmother had never worked and had spent her entire life as a rich, pureblood wife. "Lyra and I are going to open a restaurant together."

"You can't just jump into something like that," Harry told his daughter. "You need more than culinary ability to run a business."

"We know that, we're not stupid," Lily said. "We've got plenty of people to help us until we know what we're doing. Scorpius, Alex and Draco will all help us as we get going."

"I'm sure both Lyra and Lily will soon have things under control though," Hermione added with a proud smile. "They're more than clever enough to run a successful business."

"Even so you still need premises, and how are you going to afford them?" Harry pressed, still not convinced about the idea.

"That's already sorted," Lyra said. "We've got the perfect place in Paris, it just needs the alterations done so it's just like we want."

"You already own a restaurant?" Ron questioned. "How the hell did you manage that?"

"With a little help from me," Lucius answered. "I bought the building the girls wanted and I signed it over to them."

"What's in that for you?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at the former Death Eater.

"I want my granddaughter to be happy, and I will do anything I can to help her live her dream," Lucius replied.

"And what about Lily?" Ginny asked. "Why would you sign half of things over to her? She's not your family."

"She will be very shortly," Lucius answered. "As my grandson's future wife I'm more than happy to help her launch her business with my granddaughter."

"Just because they're engaged, doesn't mean the wedding will actually happen," Molly said. "Relationships break down all the time. They might never get married."

"Unless our relationship is going to break down in the next seven weeks, that's not going to happen," Lily said, deciding it was time to break the news that the wedding would be happening quickly.

"Are you telling us you've already set the date?" Ginny gasped.

"Yes," Lily nodded. "We're getting married in seven weeks' time."

"You can't. It's too soon," Ginny protested.

"You can't expect us to agree to this Lily," Harry said sternly. "We barely know Scorpius, we can't allow you to marry him so quickly."

"The decision has already been made," Lily told her family. "We're getting married in seven weeks, and I really want you all there. In fact I really want your help organising the wedding, and in that time you can get to know Scorpius a bit better. I'll understand if you can't accept it, but it's happening regardless of anything you may say."

"It doesn't look like we have much choice does it," Harry grumbled.

"Does that mean you're going to be there?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Of course we're going to be there," Harry answered moodily. "We aren't going to miss our daughter's wedding."

"And do you want to help with the planning?" Lily checked. She was hoping that involving her family in the organising would help ease the tensions between the two families and help her family accept what was happening.

"Of course we'll help with the planning," Ginny smiled at her daughter. A Malfoy wouldn't have been Ginny's choice as partner for her daughter, but it looked as though for the time being they would have to accept Lily's choice.

"Excellent." Lily sighed in relief and for the first time that evening her bright smile wasn't hiding her nerves, it was showing how happy she was. "We're viewing the hotel later in the week, you can come along and help sort things out."

"Hotel?" Harry queried. "What hotel?"

"We've hired a hotel for the weekend," Scorpius explained.

"A whole weekend? Isn't that overkill?" Lavender asked. "It doesn't take a whole weekend to get married."

"We thought it might be nice to spend the day before the wedding relaxing and spending time with family," Lily said.

"Do you have any idea how expensive it will be hire a hotel for a whole weekend?" Harry asked. The family actually had a substantial fortune in Gringotts, but Harry didn't believe in flashing the money around and in his opinion hiring a hotel for a whole weekend was excessive.

"Actually it won't cost them a thing," Blaise said. "They're using one of my hotels on the south coast and we're not charging them anything. It's our wedding present to Scorpius and Lily."

"It looks like you've got everything sorted," Ginny sniffed. Clearly the wedding had been discussed in great detail and they were only just been informed of things once everything was in place.

"Not really," Lily said. "Blaise has agreed to let us use the hotel, but that's all we've sorted. We need to think about the guest list and who'll be staying at the hotel and for how long. We've also got things like the dress and cake to sort out, not to mention the reception and food."

"Basically we've got the hotel sorted for seven weeks' time, and that's it," Scorpius added. "Everything else needs sorting."

"What's the rush to get married?" Molly asked. "Why are things moving so quickly?"

"We love each other, and don't see the point in waiting," Lily told her grandmother. "We want to get married before Lyra and I open the restaurant. That way once we return from honeymoon I can concentrate on the business."

"And are you sure you want to open a restaurant in Paris?" Ginny asked her daughter. "What's wrong with London?"

"My life is in Paris, Mum," Lily said gently. "Scorpius is in France, as is Lyra. Besides it's not as if I can't visit, and you and Dad could come and visit us sometime. You would love Paris, it's gorgeous."

"I guess we could come and visit," Ginny conceded, actually liking the idea of visiting Paris on a regular basis.

With the news of the impeding wedding having been broken and Lily's family seemingly accepting it, the evening continued with dessert. Over dessert Ginny and Harry took the opportunity to talk to Lily and Scorpius about their relationship and to get to know a bit more about Scorpius. Meanwhile Molly and Arthur had turned to Hermione and were catching up with the brunette witch. Daphne engaged Lavender in conversation about fashion, while Blaise drew Ron into a conversation about quidditch. James and Albus were more than happy to talk to Lyra and Alex, even though Alex kept making it very clear to the two Potters that Lyra was off limits.

"I love it when you get all possessive," Lyra whispered to Alex once dinner was over and people started heading back to the living room for a final drink.

"I just wanted to make sure James and Albus got the message that you're mine," Alex replied, resting his hand on his girlfriend's bum and giving it a squeeze as they walked to the living room.

"I think we all got that message," Lucius chuckled, coming up behind the couple. "Now Alex, I would appreciate it if you'd stop fondling my granddaughter right in front of me. I'm sure you can be a bit more subtle about grabbing a good grope."

Alex laughed at Lucius's advice as he removed his hand upwards so his arm was around Lyra's waist. Lucius nodded happily at the couple as they entered the front room and he took off to ensure everyone had drinks. Once everyone was settled with a drink, the conversation returned to the upcoming wedding.

"When exactly are we viewing this hotel?" Ginny questioned.

"Thursday," Lily replied. "Since we've got so much to discuss we thought we could all have lunch together before looking around the hotel in the afternoon."

"I'll give you a business card so you'll have the address," Blaise said, pulling his wallet from his pocket and pulling out a pile of business cards. Finding the right one, he handed it to Harry. "You can use the floo network, and you'll arrive in the public fires."

"What time?" Harry asked.

"About midday," Lily answered. "We'll meet in reception."

"I think it's time we were going," Daphne announced as she stood up. "Thank you for dinner Narcissa, it was lovely as always."

"You're welcome," Narcissa smiled at Daphne as she gave the younger witch a hug.

"Should we expect you home tonight, Alex?" Blaise checked with his son.

"I don't think so. I'll probably just stay here with Lyra," Alex replied, shooting his girlfriend a wicked smirk.

"Excellent. We'll have the place to ourselves," Blaise grinned at Daphne. "Let's go and have some fun."

While Blaise and Daphne were saying goodbye to Draco and Hermione, Molly was having a quiet word with Ginny about Lily and her sleeping arrangements. Molly had been rather taken aback by the casual way in which Alex had just declared he was spending the night with Lyra, and none of her family batted an eyelid.

"Will you be coming home with us, Lily?" Ginny asked once Blaise and Daphne had left.

"I'll be staying here," Lily replied.

"I hope you have your own room if you insist on staying here," Molly said.

"Of course I don't," Lily chuckled. "I share with Scorpius."

"But you're not even married," Molly tutted, unimpressed with the situation. She'd never let Harry spend the night with Ginny before they were married. "And you approve of this, do you?" She asked Draco and Hermione.

"They're adults," Hermione shrugged.

"And they're engaged, it's only natural they're going to be having sex," Draco added, smirking at the blushes that rose on the faces of the Potters and Weasleys. "It makes more sense for them to be sharing a room so they have someone private to be together, rather than they have to find some way to sneak around."

"I still don't like it," Molly muttered. "A bride should be pure on their wedding day."

"I don't think it works like that anymore," Narcissa said gently to Molly. "Times have changed."

"What do you mean anymore, it didn't work when we were younger?" Lucius hissed to his wife. "You were anything but pure on our wedding day."

"Only you know that," Narcissa smiled back at her husband.

"Actually we all know that now," Lyra called from the other side of the room. "You're not being that quiet, we can all hear."

While the Malfoys, Alex and Lily all laughed, the Potters and Weasleys were rather shocked by the tone of the conversation. They'd always assumed the Malfoys were rather stuffy and conservative, this wasn't really the sort of behaviour they expected from the family.

"I think it might be time we were leaving," Ginny announced, recognising that a lot of her family were becoming distinctly uncomfortable.

"But I'll see you on Thursday?" Lily checked as she got up to say goodbye to her family.

"We'll be there," Harry promised his daughter.

Saying goodbye and thanking the Malfoy's for their hospitality the Weasley's and Potter's exited the manor. They then returned to Harry and Ginny's house where Ginny made a pot of tea and the family settled down to talk about their evening. Their main talking point was whether or not they were going to accept Lily's decision or try and make her change her mind and leave Scorpius. Despite most of the family still having their reservations about Lily marrying a Malfoy they decided the wisest course of action would be to learn to accept things. The last thing anyone wanted was to lose Lily, and it was very clear to everyone that if she was pushed into making a choice between her fiancé and her family, Lily would pick Scorpius above them.


	5. Chapter 5

Looking over at the clock, Hermione groaned when she realised it was time her and Draco were getting up. They were due to meet up with everyone at Blaise's hotel in just over an hour and a half, and so far the couple had yet to get out of bed. They had been awake for several hours, but after having breakfast in bed the couple had then indulged in other more strenuous activities in the large king sized bed.

"We're going to have to get up," Hermione told Draco, who was happily lying beside her tracing patterns on her bare skin.

"Do we have to?" Draco asked with a frown. "I'd much rather spend the rest of the day naked with my lovely wife."

"As nice as that would be, our son will be expecting us," Hermione chuckled, leaning down and brushing her lips over Draco's. "Today we have to be responsible adults and go help our son and his fiancée sort their wedding."

"Fine." Draco sighed dramatically as he pushed the covers back on the bed and sat up. "We'll go and play nicely with the Potters and Weasleys."

"It won't be that bad," Hermione told her husband. "Harry and Ginny will be more interested in Lily than us, and to be honest I'm not even sure if Molly or Arthur will show up."

"I suppose I can manage a few hours with Potter and his wife," Draco said as he finally got out of bed and stretched his body.

"We're going to have to get used to seeing them," Hermione warned Draco as she also got out of bed. "In a few weeks we'll all be family."

"And how do you feel about that? How do you feel about our son marrying into a family that heartlessly tossed you aside because they didn't like the choices you made in life?" Draco asked, turning to his wife so he could see her reaction as well as hearing it. He would be able to tell by Hermione's expression if she meant what she said, or if she was putting on a brave front.

Hermione grimaced at the brutal way in which Draco had described past events. "Don't sugar-coat it whatever you do."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Draco winced at the pain he saw flicker through his wife's eyes. "I just need to know how you're coping."

"I'm managing," Hermione smiled, and Draco could see she meant it. "Yes, it's tough seeing Harry and Ron again but I've been preparing for it since the day Lily walked into our lives."

"Seeing them again is very different to ending up sharing a family with them," Draco pointed out. "One day Potter will be grandfather to our grandchildren."

"It's not an ideal situation given the past, but I can cope," Hermione reassured her husband. "The important thing to me is Scorpius and his happiness. He loves Lily and I've never seen him so happy. That is more important than any hurt I may still feel about how I was treated by Harry and Ron."

Draco knew his wife meant every word she said, but he could also vividly remember how broken she had been after her friends had abandoned her. Even though so many years had passed he knew that being in regular contact with Harry and Ron would open up old wounds. After all the trio had shared so much and been through so much together it was impossible for Hermione to forget all about their past.

Walking around the bed, Draco pulled his wife into his arms. While the hug had meant to be reassuring, the fact that they were naked soon changed the dynamic of their embrace. Draco immediately began to react to having Hermione's soft curves pressed against him, while Hermione automatically began to nuzzle against her naked husband.

"We really should go and take a shower," Hermione muttered, trailing her lips over Draco's neck. "We have to be leaving soon."

"How about we shower together to save time," Draco suggested.

"I doubt that will save time," Hermione laughed. "It'll only extend the shower longer. I'm going to go and grab a quick shower, and when I'm finished you can do the same."

Draco reluctantly let Hermione out of his embrace, but he managed to give her a searing kiss before letting her go off to the bedroom. At least that way his wife would be thinking of him when she was in the shower.

While Hermione was in the bathroom, Draco went over to the wardrobe and pulled out the clothes he would be wearing that day. Since they would be in the country until after the wedding, Draco had enchanted the wardrobe at the manor to connect to the one at their house in France. That way he and Hermione had access to all their clothes for the duration of their stay.

"Okay, I'm finished," Hermione called, emerging from the bathroom after just ten minutes. "Be quick, we don't have all day."

"I'll be out before you know it," Draco promised his wife as he headed into the bathroom.

While Draco was showering, Hermione picked out her outfit and began to get dressed. Hermione had chosen a beige dress with black lace details down each side. After pairing the dress was a pair of black heels and a black bag she brightened up the outfit by adding a ruby heart necklace and matching dangly earrings.

By the time Hermione had finished dressing, Draco had emerged from the bathroom and gotten dressed himself. As usual Draco was wearing dark trousers, which he'd teemed with a light grey shirt that was fairly expensive. Fully dressed the couple checked they had everything before flooing to the hotel to meet their son and his fiancée.

Arriving at the hotel they found that Scorpius and Lily had already arrived, along with Narcissa, who Lily had invited along as she valued the older witch's opinion. Blaise of course was in reception, checking everything was running smoothly. Lyra was also present as Lily's best friend and chief bridesmaid. However it didn't look as though any of Lily's family had arrived yet.

"Is Alex not coming?" Hermione asked her daughter as they greeted everyone.

"He's been called back to France. There was a problem at his club," Lyra told her mother. Alex ran an exclusive nightclub in Paris and it was the hot spot for the wizarding youth of France to be seen.

"He'll be back later today," Scorpius added. "He probably could have dealt with it via floo, but you know what a perfectionist he is."

"Like you're not the same," Lily laughed. "You're always rushing off to deal with crises that didn't need to be handled personally."

"I get that from Father," Scorpius shrugged. "He's exactly the same."

"He is," Hermione agreed. "As is Blaise, which is where Alex gets it from."

"There's nothing wrong with being conscientious about your business," Draco said defensively.

"Of course there isn't," Hermione said, giving Draco a peck on the cheek. "Although you have to admit you do sometimes take it to extremes."

"When have I ever taken it to extremes?" Draco questioned his wife.

"How about the time I was in labour with Lyra? I came into your study while you were working and you told me to cross my legs for ten minutes while you finished up."

Hermione's story had everyone laughing and they were still laughing a few minutes later when Lily's family arrived. Harry and Ginny were the first to arrive, followed by Molly. However most people got a shock when the fire lit up again and Ron emerged followed closely by his wife.

"Why is the Weasel here?" Draco hissed to his wife. Ron and Lavender turning up to dinner at the manor hadn't been totally unexpected, but he had no idea why the couple were at the hotel.

"He and Lavender probably don't want to miss anything," Hermione whispered back, making sure no-one could hear them. "Ron never did like being left out and Lavender is naturally nosey. She threw a massive hissy fit when Ron had to tell her she couldn't come with us when we were hunting Horcrux's in the war."

"She wanted to go running around the country, putting herself in danger?" Draco asked in disbelief. He knew the only reason Hermione and her friends had undertaken the search was because it was necessary to defeat Voldemort, it certainly wasn't something any of them would have chosen to do if they had an alternative option.

"As I said, she's nosey," Hermione shrugged. "She hated the thought of Ron being away for months and not knowing what he was up to."

"I bet she's a bugger to be married to," Draco commented quietly as the couple joined the group heading to the restaurant. "I wonder if she has a tracking device on Weasley to make sure he's where he's supposed to be."

Hermione couldn't help the small outburst of laughter that followed Draco's comment, which caused a few people to turn and look at her strangely.

"What exactly are you two up to?" Blaise questioned his friends.

"We're just talking," Draco replied.

"And what's so funny?" Scorpius asked.

"Private joke," Draco smirked, knowing it would be assumed they were discussing something racy and the subject wouldn't be pressed any further.

Sure enough no-one asked any more questions as they entered the restaurant and Blaise checked the table he reserved was big enough to seat them all. Luckily he'd reserved one of the large group tables so the surprising presence of Ron and Lavender wasn't an issue.

"Did Granddad not want to come?" Lily asked once they were all seated.

"You know your grandfather, this isn't really his thing," Molly told her granddaughter. "He thought he would leave the organising for us women."

"He sounds like Lucius," Narcissa said. "He said practically the same thing. He'll just turn up on the weekend of the wedding and have a good time."

"Organising a wedding is hardly fun for a wizard," Blaise pointed out. "I can still remember the torture of organising my own wedding."

"You didn't organise the wedding, Daphne did," Hermione retorted. "All you did was sort your suit."

"Actually that was me," Draco told his wife. "I dragged Blaise to the tailors and I made all the decisions."

"As I said wedding planning is girls stuff," Blaise shrugged. "Trust me Scorp, once you've done your bit head for the hills and leave the girls to it."

"Do not follow his advice," Draco told his son. "The last groom who followed his advice on leaving wedding planning to the women, ended up getting stiches when his bride threw a plate at his head and he didn't duck in time."

"It's not my fault Pansy is mental," Blaise defended himself. "How was I to know she was going to throw plates at Theo when he failed to help her pick out the flowers?"

Blaise and Draco's story drew laughter from almost everyone at the table, and Hermione noticed that even Harry and Ron smiled at the story. Out of everyone it was clear that Harry and Ron were struggling the most with Lily being involved with Scorpius and Hermione had to wonder if they would ever truly accept her decision. Of course it might have helped if Lily's family had known about her relationship with Scorpius for longer, but Lily had been terrified of being cast aside by her family so she'd put off telling them about her relationship. Lily's fears were definitely something that Hermione could relate to, given the way she'd been treated by people when she first started to date Draco.

For a while the humorous anecdotes continued to flow, but as the meal progressed the conversation turned back to the wedding. Lily explained that they had access to the hotel from Friday afternoon, until Monday afternoon. On the Saturday the hotel's spa and beauty parlours would be opened for anyone wishing to make use of them, and on the Saturday evening there would be a big dinner for the entire wedding party. The Sunday would then be the wedding day, with the ceremony taking place on the afternoon followed by the official reception and then on the night there would be another party that was going to be held in the hotel's nightclub.

"Do you really need a wedding reception and a party?" Molly asked.

"The reception will be very formal, with speeches, dances and the cake. Whereas the night-time party will just be a bit of fun," Lily explained. "It's what people do these days."

"The party will be amazing, I promise," Lyra said. "Alex and I are organising the entire thing, and Alex knows a thing or two about throwing the most amazing parties."

Molly wasn't too convinced with the addition of a night time party, but Lily had made her choice and it was happening.

"What I need as soon as possible is a list of who'll be staying at the hotel and for how long," Blaise said, changing the subject effortlessly so there wouldn't be any fighting. "I don't want to mess up the room allocations."

"Surely everyone will be here the same amount of time," Harry replied, looking puzzled.

"Not necessarily," Lily said. "Some people will only be here for the wedding, and won't need a room. Some people might want to stay on the Sunday night, whereas some might want to stay on the Saturday before the wedding. However there is going to be a group of us here from the Friday until the Monday. And I really want as many of the family as possible here on the Saturday night for the dinner."

"I see what you mean." Ginny nodded, understanding how the situation was going to work. "Obviously we'll all be here on the Friday, but some of the other family might not come until the Saturday."

"If you could give me a list of everyone in your family and their needs, I can begin to sort the rooms. We do family rooms if anyone has children," Blaise said to Ginny. "The last thing I want is for someone to turn up and I don't have the right room ready for them, or I don't have a room available for the right length of time."

"We can sort the list together," Lily said to her mother and grandmother. "I'm sure between the three of us we can talk to people and find out what's best for them. I'm sure we can have it done in a week or so."

"Thanks Lily," Blaise smiled at the redhead. "That'll be great."

"So what else needs to be sorted?" Lavender asked.

"We need to decide where to have the ceremony and the formal reception," Scorpius answered. "Obviously the big meal on the Saturday will be in here, and the party on the Sunday night will be held in the nightclub. But we have choices for both the wedding itself and the reception."

"We have several function rooms, and a large ballroom which could host either the ceremony or the reception," Blaise explained. "There's also the gardens, which again could host either. And there's the rooftop garden, which could possibly host the ceremony."

"We're going to tour them all before making any decisions," Lily announced.

Once lunch was over the group left the restaurant, with Blaise leading the way. Hermione and Draco fell to the back of the group as they toured the potential wedding and reception locations, keeping mainly to themselves. The couple watched with amusement as the pros and cons of each place was discussed by the group, and it became clear that as soon as either Narcissa, Scorpius or Lyra said something positive about a place that one of Lily's family would say something negative and the reverse happened if one of the Malfoys said anything negative.

"Something tells me this could be a long afternoon," Draco muttered to his wife as they stood on the rooftop garden watching Molly and Narcissa debating the pros and cons of Lily and Scorpius getting married on the roof.

"I say we're best off out of it," Hermione said, leaning her head against her husband's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll decide eventually."

"If we're up here much longer I may be tempted to throw someone off the roof," Blaise remarked quietly as he approached the couple who were standing slightly away from the group. "I swear those bloody Potters and Weasleys are deliberately being argumentative. Down in the garden I heard Ginny and Lavender say how lovely the ceremony would be outside, but the moment Lyra said she thought they should use the garden they changed their mind and decided it was a bad idea because of the weather."

"I think we're going to have to get used to it," Hermione sighed. "Lily rightly wants them involved in the wedding, and it's clear they're still not happy about her marrying Scorpius so I'm guessing they're going to continue being difficult."

"I just hope I don't have to deal with them too often," Blaise grumbled, just as Lily called his name. "Yes sweetheart," He called, turning round and smiling at the young witch.

"Can we go back down to the garden?" Lily asked. "I think we're leaning towards having the ceremony down there."

"Of course," Blaise nodded. "It'll be a beautiful place to have the ceremony, all you need to decide is which part of the garden you really want to use."

"Is it wise to use the garden?" Molly questioned as the group returned to the express lift that would return them to the ground floor. "What if the weather's bad?"

"You can charm the entire gardens," Hermione suggested. "Draco and I got married at a stately home in southern France, and the ceremony took place outdoors. We cast charms all over the garden, ensuring we had sun all day and that it stayed nice and warm."

"It worked perfectly as well," Draco added. "It was actually raining the day we got married, apart from the rose garden which was where we were located. You really couldn't tell that the garden had charms around it."

"See we can do that," Lily said with a smile. Out of everywhere they'd looked at it was the gardens that held the most appeal to host the ceremony.

"What about the reception?" Ginny asked. She knew her daughter had set her heart on the gardens so she knew there was no real point in trying to change her mind as Lily was a stubborn girl. "I think the ballroom would be ideal."

"I agree," Lavender said eagerly. "The ballroom was perfect for a formal reception."

"Scorp?" Lily turned to her fiancé, not wanting to exclude him.

"The ballroom sounds great to me," Scorpius replied. "As do the gardens, I like the idea of marrying in the gardens."

"Let's go and see where you might want to tie the knot," Blaise said as they emerged yet again into the magnificent gardens that the hotel boasted.

As everyone else headed off to find the perfect spot for Lily and Scorpius to exchange their vows, Draco and Hermione remained at the top of the garden nearest to the hotel. Draco moved so he was standing behind his wife and wrapping his arms around her waist he leant his chin on her shoulder as they watched the group trailing around the gardens.

"I really don't know why Weasley came," Draco muttered, watching as Harry and Ron strolled around after the others talking to each other and paying no attention to what was going on, which is exactly what they'd been doing all afternoon.

"I told you, he hates to be left out of anything," Hermione chuckled.

"But it's not as if it's his daughter getting married, Lily's just his niece," Draco argued. "I swear he only came to wind me up."

"The world does not revolve around you," Hermione told her husband. "I'm sure you never entered Ron's head when he decided to come along and be nosey."

"I just hope after today we don't have to see him until the wedding," Draco grumbled as the group made their way back to them with the news they'd settled on a spot for Lily and Scorpius to get married.

"And we've definitely decided to have the reception in the ballroom," Scorpius told his parents as everyone made their way back inside the hotel.

"That's great sweetheart." Hermione smiled at her son and future daughter-in-law. "As long as you're both happy, that's all that matters."

"We are," Scorpius said, wrapping his arm around Lily's waist and giving her a quick kiss.

Heading back to the reception area of the hotel, everyone said their goodbyes and began to go their separate ways. Hermione had just said goodbye to Molly and was making her way to the floo network, when Draco grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her towards the reception desk.

"What are you doing?" She asked as the receptionist handed Draco a key to a suite.

"We're staying here for the rest of the day," Draco told his wife. "I spoke to Blaise, and he organised it for me. We're going to spend a few hours relaxing in the spa before having a romantic meal in the privacy of our own room. We're then going to have an early night and continue from where we left off this morning."

"It sounds great." Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and gave her husband a heated kiss, even though they were still in reception and apart from Narcissa and Molly everyone else was still around to witness it.

Reluctantly separating, the couple headed off to enjoy their evening of pampering and relaxation, oblivious to the fact Hermione's old friends were muttering about them as they left the hotel and headed home.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione was sitting quietly in the library of Malfoy Manor, browsing books on the history of the Malfoy family. On the evening that Lily's family had come to dinner, Lucius had shown her an old portrait that he'd bought from an antiques dealer a few weeks previously. The portrait was of a woman Lucius hadn't seen before, but the plaque at the bottom of the picture claimed she was a Malfoy. Lucius had found no record of the mysterious woman when he'd looked, so he'd asked Hermione if she could take a look and discover if the picture was a genuine family heirloom or if it was a fake. Since history was Hermione's area of expertise she was happy to delve into things, especially as it gave her something to do with her time.

Hermione and Draco had both taken extended holidays from work so they could be around for all the wedding preparations, but her husband had still managed to find some work to do. Draco was currently at the office in London with Lucius, so Hermione had decided to begin her research into Lucius's mystery portrait. Of course since she was still at the manor, she was on hand if Lily and Scorpius needed any help with the wedding preparations, but she didn't want to interfere and impose herself on her son and future daughter-in-law.

Hermione knew that Lily was trying to include her family so they would accept her marriage, and she didn't want to cause problems for the young witch. Since having dinner with Lily's family the previous Monday and visiting Blaise's hotel with them on Thursday, Hermione hadn't seen any of the Potters or Weasleys. She knew the past few days Lily had been busy with her family sorting out the guest list and organising how long people were going to be at the hotel, but in the coming weeks more serious planning needed to be done and she would likely run into Lily's family sooner rather than later.

As it turned out Hermione saw Lily's family a lot sooner than she thought as her research was interrupted by Lyra entering the library. Hermione smiled happily at her daughter as she settled down at the table opposite her, and took a look at the picture Hermione had taken of Lucius's portrait.

"Is this Grandpa's mystery woman?" Lyra questioned. Lucius had filled the entire family in on his discovery over dinner a few night previously.

"It is," Hermione nodded. "According to the plaque at the bottom of the picture her name was Claudine, but there's no record of there ever being a Claudine Malfoy in the family."

"Maybe she was disinherited," Lyra suggested, knowing that in the past her family wouldn't have been opposed to discarding someone who didn't live up to their high expectations of being a Malfoy. Draco for example could easily have being disinherited for marrying a muggleborn, but luckily the war changed things and Lucius accepted Draco's choice.

"Maybe," Hermione agreed. "I'll find the answer eventually. But I'm sure that's not why you came to see me."

"It isn't," Lyra said. "I've came to check you're going to be here this afternoon."

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Hermione asked. "Your father's gone off to the office with your grandfather, so I've got no plans."

"Actually Gran's just gone to get Grandpa. They're heading off to New York for a few days," Lyra said.

"Ah yes, I think Narcissa mentioned it a few days ago," Hermione said, vaguely recalling her mother-in-law mentioning she wanted to see a new wizarding play that was opening in the American city.

"Anyway, back to my original point." Lyra quickly returned to the reason for her visit to the library before they got side-tracked with her grandparents travel plans. "I wanted to make sure you were going to be at the cake tasting this afternoon."

"I thought that was tomorrow," Hermione replied.

"It was going to be, but Lily wants to take Scorpius up to Hogsmeade and see Hogwarts tomorrow," Lyra explained. "So we've brought it forward a day."

"I'll be there as long as Lily doesn't mind," Hermione replied.

"You know she wants you there, she only asked you a few days ago," Lyra said. "Besides, I need you there for support. It'll be awful if her family don't like any of the samples I've made."

Cakes and desserts had been Lyra's speciality at culinary school and she'd offered to make the wedding cake for her brother and best friend. Both Lily and Scorpius had jumped at the idea since Lyra's cakes were always delicious and always looked spectacular.

"Why would they not like them? You're a brilliant chef, Lyra," Hermione reassured her daughter. "If anything choosing one cake might be the problem."

Lyra smiled at her mother, grateful for her support. "Just don't tell them I'm making the cake until after they've tasted them. If they know beforehand they might deliberately pick fault."

"I'm sure they wouldn't do that," Hermione said, although she didn't sound the slightest bit convincing and both her and Lyra knew it.

"Of course they will," Lyra snorted. "It was obvious last week that they don't like us Malfoys. They're not going to compliment a cake they know I've made."

Hermione wanted to say that Lyra was just being melodramatic, but she knew her daughter was speaking the truth. Chances were if it was mentioned upfront that Lyra had made the sample cakes and would be making the wedding cake, Lily's family would undoubtedly complain. No doubt they would complain anyway once they discovered what was happening.

"Although I don't just need your support, I think Lily might appreciate you being around," Lyra told her mother. "I know she wants her family to be included in the wedding preparations, but I don't want them overpowering her into doing something she isn't happy with. At the hotel she considered agreeing to hold the wedding ceremony on the roof just because that's what her mother and grandmother wanted and she didn't want to cause more problems."

"How do you know she considered using the roof for the ceremony?" Hermione asked. While she hadn't been heavily involved in the decision of where to hold the ceremony she didn't think Lily had seemed too keen on having it on the roof.

"She told me, she is my best friend." Lyra rolled her eyes at her mother's slightly dense question. "She tells me almost everything."

"Only almost?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "I thought best friends shared everything."

"It's hard to share everything when she's going to marry my brother," Lyra retorted. "There are some things I just don't want to know."

Hermione chuckled at the look on her daughter's face, before returning the conversation back to that afternoon. "I'll be there this afternoon, and I'll try and make sure Lily isn't pushed into anything. Although I think you're underestimating her, she's tougher than she looks. She can hold her own against her family."

"Normally I would agree, but she knows how much her family disapprove of her being with Scorpius and she's desperate to get their approval. All she wants is for them to accept Scorp and to like him."

"I might have to have a quiet word with her and make sure she knows that might not happen," Hermione sighed sadly. "While her family might eventually be able to accept her decision, I doubt they'll ever truly like Scorpius. Unfortunately for Scorp he's too much like his father, and I don't think Lily's family will ever be able to let go of their dislike of Draco."

"I don't think they're all like that," Lyra said as she stood up. "James and Albus seemed alright."

"They did seem like nice lads," Hermione agreed. "And I think a few of Ginny's brothers will be okay."

"I have to go and make sure everything is finished," Lyra told her mother. "I've still got a few of the creams to finish."

"What time do you want me?" Hermione asked.

"Around two in the conservatory," Lyra replied, before she hurried off to make sure everything was perfect for later on.

Once Lyra had gone, Hermione decided to end her research for the day. She would go and have a nice relaxing bath before she had to face her old friends yet again.

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"The cakes look lovely, Lyra," Hermione told her daughter as she looked at the spread of samples displayed in the conservatory.

"I just hope they taste okay," Lyra said. "I've tried a couple of new concoctions alongside some well tested flavours."

"I'm sure they're all going to be amazing," Lily reassured her best friend. "You're always so good with your flavours."

"Hopefully I've done something you'll like." Lyra said.

"You will have," Scorpius told his sister, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Mum and Gran should be arriving soon," Lily said, checking the time. "Which fire will they arrive in?" She asked her fiancé.

"I've shut them all down apart from the one in the front room," Scorpius told Lily. "Let's go and wait for them."

While Scorpius and Lily headed off to wait for Lily's family, Hermione helped Lyra make sure there was some refreshments available to accompany the cake tasting. Once everything was sorted, Hermione and Lyra settled down to wait for Lily and Scorpius to return with Lily's family. Luckily the wait was a short one and Lily and Scorpius soon re-entered the conservatory with Molly and Ginny trailing behind them. However Molly and Ginny weren't the only members of Lily's family to have turned up, also present were Ron and Lavender.

"Ron, I didn't expect to see you today," Hermione said, unable to hide her surprise at seeing the redheaded wizard.

"Since we're tasting cakes, we thought Ron might come in handy," Ginny laughed. "You know how much he loves to eat."

"I'll just make sure we have enough cups," Hermione said, walking over to where the tea was sitting and checking there was enough cups for everyone.

Considering Ron had turned up, Hermione was rather relieved that Draco had chosen to go into the office. If he'd been around there was every chance her husband might have said something about Ron and Lavender being present yet again.

"There's no getting rid of those two," Scorpius whispered to his mother as he came up beside her to pour the tea.

"I would get used to it if I was you," Hermione whispered back. "Ron and Lavender don't miss much."

"Joy," Scorpius muttered, rolling his eyes and pulling a face that reminded Hermione so much of Draco.

Laughing quietly at her son, Hermione helped Scorpius pour the tea and hand it around. She then took her seat and let Lily and Lyra sort the cake out. While Lyra was sorting the first sample, Lily handed her mother a beautiful sketch of what the wedding cake would look like. The cake would be a three tiered square cake, with iced roses circling the cake.

"Obviously the roses will match whatever we decide will be the main colour in the wedding," Lily explained. "And the inside of the cake will be made from whatever we choose today."

"Is the cake going to be white?" Molly asked.

"At the minute," Lily replied. "Although I am toying with making the middle tier a coloured one."

"I like all white personally," Ginny said.

"That is our preference," Lily told her mother.

"Now let's get trying cake," Lyra said as she began to hand around the plates.

"It's a bit on the weedy side," Ron grumbled, looking at the plate Lyra had just handed him. "This is literally one bite."

"That's the whole point," Lily told her uncle. "We've got lots of cakes to try, so we just have a small piece of each. Although there is still some more of each sample in case we want to return to try it again."

"What kind of cake is this?" Molly asked, popping the cake into her mouth.

"Vanilla caramel with French vanilla buttercream," Lyra answered.

"It's lovely," Lavender exclaimed as she devoured her piece.

"It is," Lily agreed. "But we've got lots more to come."

One by one Lily and Lyra handed out the different cakes. Ron was a big fan of the chocolate fudge cake, although both Scorpius and Hermione admitted as nice as it was they couldn't eat very much as it was too sweet for them. Molly loved the rose cake with raspberry buttercream, while Lavender's personal favourite was a pineapple cake with a coconut rum buttercream. There was also more traditional flavours like strawberry, orange and lemon that met with approval from everyone.

"This next one is absolutely gorgeous," Lily announced as she handed around the next sample. "It's peach cake with passion fruit buttercream."

"That is heavenly," Ginny sighed happily as she placed the cake into her mouth.

"I need the name of this baker," Ron said as he shovelled cake into his mouth. "All these cakes have been amazing."

Lyra smiled at Ron's comment, but she didn't say anything as she prepared the next sample, which also happened to be the last.

"This is spiced apple cake with golden caramel buttercream," Lyra announced as she handed the plates round.

"I like this one," Scorpius told his sister as he tried the cake.

"So do I," Lily said. "Although I do love the peach cake."

"The peach cake was amazing," Hermione agreed.

"All the fruit flavoured ones were really nice," Molly said. "And they would all be perfect for a wedding cake. I think some of the chocolate ones are a bit heavy for a wedding cake. Personally I think the cake should be light and airy."

"I do like the idea of a fruit based cake," Lily said.

"Personally I like the chocolate one," Ron said. "In my opinion that would go down the best. Everyone loves chocolate cake."

"Hermione, what do you think?" Lily asked, turning to her future mother-in-law.

"I think a lighter fruit flavoured cake would be the best approach," Hermione said, noticing Ron frowning when she disagreed with him. "You could always do each tier a different kind of cake."

"That's an amazing idea," Lily grinned at Hermione before turning to Lyra. "Would that be okay with you?"

"What does it have to do with Lyra?" Ginny questioned. "It's your cake, not hers."

"Lyra's making the cake, Mum," Lily said. "Before I go around deciding I want three different types of cake, I need to know she's okay with that."

"It's fine Lil," Lyra told her friend. "I can make the three tiers different no problem."

"In that case, I vote for the spiced apple as a tier," Scorpius said. "That was amazing."

"Thank you," Lyra smiled at her brother. "And actually the spiced apple would make an excellent bottom tier."

"And I would love the peach and passion fruit one," Lily said. "It's always been my favourite cake of yours."

"That just leaves the top tier," Lyra said. "What do you want for that?"

"How about the pineapple one with the coconut rum buttercream," Lavender said, suggesting her favourite cake.

"That was nice," Molly said. "Although do you want alcohol in your cake? What about the little ones?"

"What little ones?" Lily asked. "Victoire's baby is the youngest and she's only a few months old. Everyone else is either an adult, or are old enough that a tiny bit of rum won't hurt them."

"And with three tiers, anyone who didn't want rum could have a piece from another tier," Hermione said.

"That's settled, we'll have pineapple with the coconut rum as the top tier," Lily told Lyra.

"Excellent," Lyra nodded, before she turned to the remaining bits of samples. Since they'd decided so easily it hadn't been necessary to re-taste anything. "Does anyone want any more cake? It's a shame for it to go to waste."

Hermione watched as Ron fought an inner battle, he obviously wanted more cake but now he knew that Lyra had made them all he was clearly hesitant to show just how much he loved them. However his love for cake eventually won out and he jumped up to grab the remaining leftovers.

"Are you sure about this cake?" Molly asked Lily. "Should you not go to a professional baker? Or at least someone with more experience at making cakes."

"Lyra has plenty of experience," Lily told her worried grandmother. "She made a stunning cake for one of her final exams, and just a few months ago she made a beautiful cake for Lucius and Narcissa's anniversary. I can show you pictures if you want, but I trust Lyra will make us the most stunning wedding cake imaginable."

"As long as you're happy," Molly told her granddaughter. Personally she thought the whole thing was a big mistake, but it wasn't really her place to argue over Lily's choices.

While Ron was busy helping himself to more cake, and Molly was talking to Lily, Ginny had approached Hermione.

"Harry and I were wondering if you and Draco would like to come for dinner tomorrow evening," Ginny said. "Lily and Scorpius would be there of course. We just thought we all need to make an effort to learn to get along."

"We'd like that, thank you Ginny," Hermione smiled at her old friend. While she knew she'd never regain the friendship she'd once shared with her old friends, she would like it so things weren't quite as uncomfortable when they saw one another and that would only be achieved if they made the effort to spend time together and move on from the past.

"If you arrive about eight o'clock," Ginny said. "We'll make sure the floo network is open and you can floo right to us."

Hermione nodded and after thanking Ginny once again, she said her goodbyes to everyone else and left the conservatory. Now she had to work out how to tell her husband that they had a dinner date with the Potters the following day.


	7. Chapter 7

Draco wasn't exactly thrilled to discover he was expected to go and dine at the Potters, but he would go to ensure things ran smoothly for Scorpius and Lily. In different circumstances it may have been easier for him to learn and get along with the wizard he'd had such a fierce childhood rivalry with, but Draco's main problem with Potter stemmed from the way he had treated Hermione. Draco couldn't forget the way his wife's supposed best friends treated her all those years ago, and that was making it harder for him to let the past go and move on.

Despite his misgiving's, Draco was determined not to do anything that would cause Lily's family to take against Scorpius even further. That was why he'd agreed to go to dinner, and he hadn't let anyone other than Hermione see how much he didn't want to go. Even though he wasn't looking forward to dinner, Draco had been gearing himself up for it all day and he was currently having a shower before he had to get dressed.

Draco was so busy trying to convince himself that the evening wouldn't be too terrible that he failed to hear the glass door of the shower slide open. It wasn't until a pair of slim arms wrapped around his waist and he felt his wife press herself up against his back that he realised he wasn't alone.

"What are you doing in here?" Draco asked, twisting his head so he could see Hermione behind him.

"I thought I'd help you shower," Hermione replied.

"What happened to showering takes longer if we do it together?" Draco asked his wife. While Hermione wasn't opposed to showering with him, she rarely did so when they had plans and had to be somewhere at a specific time.

"I thought you deserved a treat for being so good about tonight," Hermione said. Removing her hands from around Draco's waist she walked around him in the large shower, until she was stood in front of her husband. "We don't have much time, but I thought I could give you a little treat before tonight and as long as you don't cause trouble you can have another one when we return."

"What sort of treat did you have in mind?" Draco grinned. Just having Hermione in the shower with him and watching the warm water cascading down her naked body was enough to have him rising to the occasion.

"You can pick tonight's treat," Hermione told her husband. "Providing you behave, you can have whatever you want tonight."

"And right now?" Draco asked through clenched teeth as Hermione wrapped her hand around his growing erection and began to stroke him.

"Let's see, shall we?" Hermione grinned before sinking to her knees in front of Draco.

Draco let out a loud groan when Hermione's grip on his manhood tightened as her tongue darted out of her mouth and began to tease him. Placing one hand against the shower wall, Draco tangled the other hand in his wife's wet curls as she continued to tease him with her hand and mouth.

"Don't be a tease, Hermione," Draco gasped as Hermione briefly circled her lips around the tip of his erection before removing them.

"It's not teasing if I deliver," Hermione retorted, using a line her husband had used on her many a time when she'd called him a tease. "You just need to learn a bit of patience."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but his retort turned into a low groan as Hermione finally wrapped her mouth firmly around his manhood. Like with all aspects of their sex life they both knew exactly what the other one liked, and Hermione knew just what to do to have her husband panting and moaning as she got to work on her knees. The closer Draco got to his orgasm the tighter the hand in Hermione's hair held onto his wife. By the time Hermione delivered the final stroke that sent her husband over the edge, he was practically yanking her hair out by the roots.

"Hermione!" Draco choked out his wife's name as she expertly triggered his orgasm.

Hermione remained on her knees while Draco climaxed, and she didn't release him from her mouth until he was all spent and he all but collapsed against the wall with a huge grin on his face. While Draco recovered, Hermione got to her feet and moved so she was standing directly under the spray of the hot water. After a few seconds she moved away from the jets of water and made her way towards the door of the shower.

"Hurry up, we have to get dressed and we don't want to be late," She called as she exited the shower, leaving her smiling husband behind her.

Pulling himself upright, Draco quickly finished his shower before exiting the bathroom and heading into the adjoining bedroom. By this time Hermione had magically dried her hair, and she'd pinned it up in an elegant bun. However, she hadn't yet gotten dressed so Draco took a few moments to watch as his naked wife walked around the bedroom, getting her things together. Draco had just pulled out his boxers from the drawer, when he spotted Hermione picking up her dress and stepping into it without putting on any underwear.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Getting dressed," Hermione replied, sliding the dark blue material of her dress up her body. "I'm not going out to dinner without clothes on."

"What about underwear?" Draco questioned with a frown. Normally he didn't mind Hermione forgoing underwear, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea when they were going to the Potters for dinner.

"I'm not bothering with any. The top of the dress has a built in bra," Hermione said, as she adjusted the multiple thin straps that held the dress up and covered most of the back of the dress. A bra just wasn't an option in such a dress, hence the built in bra it contained.

"And does it have built in knickers as well?" Draco demanded.

"Of course not," Hermione laughed. "I left them off for you. I thought you might like knowing I wasn't wearing any underwear."

"I always like that, but I'm not sure you should be going commando around Potter," Draco grumbled as he began to get dressed.

"Harry's not exactly going to know," Hermione pointed out. "The dress isn't the sort that will blow up, and I hardly think he's going to be crawling around on the floor to try and sneak a peek up my dress."

Draco took a moment to study his wife and decided she was right. The dress clung to her body perfectly, so unless you literally lay on the floor and looked up you would never be able to tell what she was or wasn't wearing underneath. The dress also came almost down to her knees, so it wasn't as if she would be flashing people when she sat down either. Satisfied that he would be the only person to know Hermione wasn't wearing any underwear, Draco continued to get dressed.

Once the couple were dressed they left their bedroom and headed downstairs where they'd arranged to meet Scorpius and Lily. Lucius and Narcissa were still in New York and earlier that day Lyra had flooed to the Malfoy penthouse in New York to go shopping with her grandmother, who was looking for an outfit for the wedding.

"Are we all ready?" Lily checked.

"We are," Hermione confirmed, making sure her husband didn't look too unhappy with events. Luckily Draco was still an expert at masking his emotions, and to look at him you couldn't tell he was dreading the evening.

Making sure everyone knew the address of her parent's, Lily headed into the fireplace and disappeared in a whirl of green flames. Scorpius quickly followed his fiancée, leaving just Hermione and Draco. After sharing one final resigned look, Hermione stepped into the flames and flooed to her former friend's house. Seconds after she'd alighted from the fire, Draco stepped out behind her.

Harry and Ginny were standing in the middle of the room waiting to greet the couple, while Albus and James were sitting on one of the sofas. Scorpius quickly made his way over to where Lily's brothers were sitting, while Lily hovered beside Hermione and Draco, making sure her parents were polite.

"Dinner will be another half hour or so," Ginny told the couple. "Would you like a drink in the meantime?"

Hermione and Draco both accepted the offer of a drink, which Harry headed off to fulfil while Ginny excused herself to go and check on dinner. By the time Harry returned with drinks for everyone, Hermione had perched on the second sofa in the room, while Draco was standing looking at the wall above the fireplace. The entire wall was covered with pictures of the Potters and their family. After handing the drink round, Harry sat down next to Hermione and watched as Lily stood with Draco, pointing people out to the blond wizard and sharing stories about where the pictures were taken.

"I should have known you were Head Girl," Draco chuckled, finding a picture of a beaming Lily in her Hogwarts robes with her Head Girl badge proudly on display. "And a Gryffindor as well. It seems that's what appeals to us Malfoy men."

"I wasn't actually Head Girl," Hermione pointed out from where she was sitting.

"That's just a technicality." Draco waved his hand, dismissing his wife's argument. "The only reason you never officially held the position was because of what else was going on. In normal circumstances, you would have been Head Girl."

"He's right," Harry said. "Everyone knew since first year that you were going to be Head Girl."

Draco watched his wife as she smiled at Harry, and for the first time since re-meeting things didn't seem quite as awkward between the pair. While Draco knew their old friendship could never be fully fixed, it would be nice if they could forge some sort of new friendship that would make things a whole lot easier on everyone. Turning his attention back to the pictures, Draco found pictures of both Albus and James in their quidditch gear from school.

"Did you never play quidditch?" He asked Lily. Considering the family she came from he'd fully expected her to be an accomplished player.

"Hell no," Lily snorted. "I don't mind watching, but I've never had any desire to actually play."

"Much to Mum's disappointment," Albus chuckled. "She was desperate for one of us to take after her and become a professional quidditch player."

"Did neither of you fancy taking up the sport professionally?" Hermione asked Lily's brothers.

"I certainly didn't," Albus replied. "I played for fun, that was all."

"I would have loved to, but I wasn't good enough," James admitted. "In school I was one of the top players, but I knew I didn't have it in me to turn professional."

"I was the same," Scorpius said to James. "I loved to play at school, but I knew I was never good enough to play professionally. Now Lyra on the other hand could have had an amazing quidditch career."

"Your daughter plays quidditch?" Harry asked Hermione in shock.

"Unfortunately yes," Hermione answered with a grimace. "Lyra is rather talented on a broom. She could easily have turned professional, but happily her love of cooking won out and she decided to go to catering school."

"Who would have thought you would have had a kid that was such a good quidditch player," Harry chuckled.

"Tell me about it," Hermione laughed along with Harry as she told him about how worried she used to get with both her children playing quidditch when they were at school.

Draco smiled at how relaxed Hermione was becoming as he turned back to the pictures on the wall. However, Draco's smile soon faded as he spotted a picture of Harry, Ron and Ginny on the wall. He knew for a fact that the picture had been taken the summer after Voldemort's downfall as Hermione had the same photograph, and she'd looked at it all the time when her friends had first disowned her. However in the picture Hermione had, she was standing next to Ron, whereas in the picture on display on the Potters wall, his wife had been cut out of the photo. Looking at the picture carefully, Draco could just say see a lock of Hermione's hair next to Ron where she'd been removed from the photo before it was framed in a way that unless you knew she was missing, you would never be able to tell.

Unimpressed with what he'd discovered, Draco turned away from the photos and made his way over to where his wife was sitting. Sitting down next to Hermione, Draco took hold of her hand in his and dropped a quick kiss to her knuckles. The action had Hermione turning her head and looking at her husband in bewilderment.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"It's fine," Draco replied, offering his wife a tight smile.

Hermione could see that something was bothering Draco, but before she could press the case further the fire suddenly sprang to life and Ron emerged from the flames. Seconds later Lavender stepped into the front room, before a young witch with long dark blonde hair entered the room, followed by a tall wizard with red hair. Hermione was guessing that the two youngsters with Ron and Lavender were their children, Rose and Hugo.

"We're not late, are we?" Lavender asked with a bright smile.

"You're right on time," Harry said, jumping up with a smile on his face. "I think dinner should be ready any time now."

"Is there no getting rid of those two?" Draco whispered to Hermione as Ron and Lavender made themselves at home. "Are they going to turn up everywhere?"

"It's beginning to look that way," Hermione sighed. While Harry at least seemed to want to make an effort to get along, Ron's dislike of the situation was evident in everything he said and did.

"This is going to be a long night," Draco muttered. "The Weasel and his wife are bad enough, I hate to think what they're kids are like."

"They might be nice people," Hermione said, looking over to where Hugo and Rose had joined the other youngsters. Even from a distance she could tell that Lily was unimpressed to see her cousins, especially as Rose seemed to be drooling over Scorpius.

"Or they might not," Draco said as Rose continued to bat her eyelashes in Scorpius's direction.

The question of what Rose and Hugo were like was answered over dinner. Hugo was a quiet lad and didn't have much to say for himself, but when he did speak he was always polite. Rose meanwhile reminded Hermione of what Lavender used to be like in school. She spent half her time flirting with Scorpius, even though he was engaged to her cousin, and the rest of the time she was simpering on about shopping and fashion.

"Have you picked your bridesmaids yet?" Lavender asked Lily.

"Lyra's my bridesmaid," Lily answered.

"Surely your bridesmaids should include family," Ginny told her daughter. "I'm sure Rose would love to be a bridesmaid."

"I would," Rose grinned.

"I don't really need lots of bridesmaids," Lily said. "If I asked Rose I would have to ask all of my other cousins as well, and that would be far too many."

"Nonsense," Ginny tutted. "Rose is practically your sister, it's only natural she should be a bridesmaid."

"Fine, Rose can be a bridesmaid," Lily sighed, knowing she wouldn't get a moment's peace until she agreed to it. Personally if she had to have one of her cousins as a bridesmaid she would rather it be someone like Roxanne who was fun and didn't annoy her. "But Lyra is chief bridesmaid."

"Speaking of Lyra, why didn't she come to dinner?" James asked, wanting to avoid anyone complaining about Lily's choice of chief bridesmaid.

"She's in New York," Draco explained. "She went over this afternoon to go shopping with mother."

"I think Gran's wanting to find a nice outfit for the wedding," Scorpius added.

"I would love to go shopping in New York," Lavender sighed wistfully.

"Me too," Rose agreed. "I bet it's just fabulous."

"I'm sure we can all find clothes for the wedding just fine without having to travel halfway across the globe," Ron said to his wife and daughter. The last thing he wanted was for the pair of them to want to go to ridiculous lengths to find an outfit for the wedding.

"Speaking of outfits, have you thought about your dress yet?" Ginny asked Lily. "We'll have to be getting it sorted soon."

"And the bridesmaid's dresses," Rose added, looking forward to having a fancy dress to wear.

"I haven't really thought about it yet," Lily admitted. "I'll have to look into it."

"Don't worry, we know the perfect place," Lavender told her niece. "Your mother and I both got our dresses from the same shop, and I'm sure we can find the perfect dress for you."

"Thanks," Lily smiled. "We can certainly give it a try. Although Narcissa mentioned a wedding boutique in France, I thought I might look there as well."

"It's a lovely little shop," Hermione said. "It's where I got my dress."

"We'll have to be looking into visiting soon," Ginny said. "How about over the weekend?"

"I'm busy over the weekend," Lily replied. "Lyra and I are heading down to the hotel to meet with the head chef. We're sorting out the menu for the dinner on the Saturday evening and the catering for the reception."

"Do you need any advice on what to serve?" Ron asked eagerly.

"It's okay Uncle Ron, it's all in hand. Lyra and I have created the perfect menu."

"I hope it's nothing too fancy, you know Hugo doesn't eat fancy food," Lavender sniffed.

"Mum, stop it," Hugo hissed, turning red as his mother embarrassed him as per usual. Sometimes he thought she forgot he was twenty two, not two.

"Don't worry, we're not having anything too extravagant," Lily reassured her aunt.

Across the table Draco and Hermione rolled their eyes at Lavender's behaviour. No wonder Hugo was so shy and retiring when his mother acted as though he was still a child. And Rose wasn't much better, since she was clearly a spoilt brat and got whatever she wanted.

As the discussions about the wedding came to end the conversation started to dry up. Luckily James and Albus were more than content to talk to Scorpius and the three young men looked to be getting along fabulously. However the conversation between the older people at the table was slow going. It was very clear that Hermione's old friends still didn't approve of her relationship with Draco, and they tended to avoid the fact that they were married. Harry had asked a few questions about both Hermione and Draco's careers, but he'd steered well away from their personal life.

Once dinner was over, Draco was relieved when Lily announced that they should be getting back to the manor. Staying any longer would have just been torture, and he didn't think he could have lasted much longer before saying something he might regret.

"Thank you for inviting us," Hermione said to Ginny as they said their goodbyes. "Dinner was lovely."

"You're welcome," Ginny smiled. "We'll have to do it again sometime."

Draco inwardly grimaced as Hermione agreed, but he knew his wife didn't have a choice unless she was going to be rude. Hopefully next time they had to have dinner with Lily's parents they could do so without Ron and Lavender showing up. Draco could just about cope with spending a bit of time with Harry and Ginny, but Ron and Lavender as well was just too much for him. He was just hoping that the couple would stop shoehorning themselves into everything once the wedding was over and things returned to normal. If they did continue to hang around like a bad smell, Draco would have to find some excuses for not spending time with Lily's family. Although he also suspected that Scorpius could be doing the same, as he'd noticed his son was less than impressed with his fiancée's pushy aunt and uncle.


	8. Chapter 8

In the back garden of Malfoy Manor, Lyra and Lily were sitting drinking fruity cocktails as they discussed their trip down to Blaise's hotel the following day. Lily was more than happy to be going away for the day as her family were driving her mad. While she'd wanted them to feel included, she couldn't help but feel that at times they were trying to completely take over. Ron and Lavender were especially being annoying, showing up all the time and interfering in something that didn't really involve them. However, Lily knew if she said something she might upset her parents as Ron was Harry's best friend and the two couples had always been exceptionally close.

Another thing that was starting to get on Lily's nerves was the lack of effort her family were making to get to know Scorpius. Besides her brother's, who'd actually been really great and had given Scorpius a chance, the rest of the family had barely spoken to her fiancé. Even thought they'd had dinner together twice, Lily could count on one hand the amount of times either of her parents had spoken to Scorpius and took the time to try and get to know him. Instead all of their focus was on helping organise a wedding they clearly didn't want to happen.

Lily was just telling Lyra how much she was looking forward to getting away for the day when Scorpius and Alex emerged from the manor. Grabbing themselves a drink from the jug of cocktail on the table, the two wizards settled themselves down next to Lily and Lyra.

"I've had a brilliant idea," Alex announced. "Scorp and I are going to come down to the hotel with you. I've spoken to Dad, and he's arranged for us to stay the night. I need to check out the club at the hotel and see what needs to be done before the wedding."

"That's a good idea," Lyra grinned, immediately latching onto the idea of staying overnight at the hotel.

"We thought you two could sort the catering tomorrow and we could all have a good night in the club to check it out," Alex said.

"And what would you do while we were sorting the catering?" Lily asked.

"We'll find something to entertain us," Alex replied with a grin.

"Actually I was thinking we could invite James and Albus," Scorpius told his fiancée. "They're the only members of your family who've really give me a chance, so I thought it might be nice to spend some time with them."

"As long as they keep their hands off Lyra," Alex warned.

"They were only looking," Lyra laughed. "Once you made a show of letting them know I was taken, they backed off."

"Neither of them would try anything with someone who already had a boyfriend," Lily said.

"So you wouldn't mind if we invited them to join us?" Scorpius checked with his fiancée.

"No. I think it's a lovely idea," Lily smiled. "I appreciate you making the effort with my brothers."

"I actually like them," Scorpius replied.

"I'll have to go and ask them if they want to join us," Lily said. "Especially if we're leaving in the morning. Will we be able to get them rooms?"

"Of course," Alex said. "If they're coming let me know and I'll get Dad to arrange everything. Do either of them have girlfriends they want to bring with them? We don't want them feeling left out with two couples."

"Albus broke up with his girlfriend a few months ago, and I don't think he's seeing anyone at the minute," Lily replied. "And as for James, he rarely has a regular girlfriend. He prefers to play the field."

"Good man," Alex nodded, approving of James's way of life. "You can't beat playing the field."

"Really?" Lyra glared at her boyfriend. "It can be arranged for you to play the field again if you want. I can always dump your arse if you're not careful."

"Let me clarify things," Alex said hastily, trying to talk his way out of trouble. "Playing the field is great, until you find the right person. Once you've found yourself a gorgeous sexy witch, like I have, nothing beats being with them."

"That's such a pile of mush," Scorpius laughed as his best friend grovelled to his sister.

"I've heard you say far worse," Alex shot back at his friend, before retuning his attention to Lyra. "Please pumpkin, forgive me."

"I will on one condition," Lyra said.

"Anything," Alex vowed.

"Never ever call me pumpkin again, it's hideous," Lyra said with a grimace.

"Agreed," Alex nodded, happily agreeing to Lyra's condition since he didn't know where the endearment had come from and it was far too sickly sweet for them to use. "How about we take a walk and I can show you just how much I prefer being with you rather than playing the field."

Lyra quickly agreed and after knocking back her cocktail she stood up and pulled Alex to his feet. Alex also drowned the cocktail he hadn't yet touched before the couple turned to head in the direction of the rose maze that stood on the east side of the manor.

"I would avoid the maze if I were you," Scorpius called before the pair left.

"Why?" Lyra frowned. In the centre of the maze was a large swing chair and she thought it would be a great place for her and Alex to have some fun.

"Mum and Dad were heading off for a walk in the maze earlier," Scorpius answered. "I'm guessing they had the same idea as you about trying the swing."

"Bloody randy parents," Lyra hissed. "Come on Alex, let's go down beside the lake."

"We'll have to try the swing sometime," Scorpius suggested to Lily as Lyra and Alex wandered off down the garden.

"We will," Lily agreed. "But why don't we go and ask my brothers about this weekend, then when we come back we can try out the present I bought for you in Hogsmeade the other day."

"You never did tell me what that was," Scorpius said as they finished their drinks and got up to return into the house. "Will I like it?"

"You'll love it," Lily reassured Scorpius with a wicked smile.

"Let's go, I'm dying to get back and find out what's in store for me," Scorpius grinned, taking hold of Lily's hand and dragging her into the house where they set off to find her brothers and invite them away for the weekend.

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Scorpius lay patiently on the large double bed in his and Lily's hotel room. He was currently awaiting his treat that Lily had first promised him the previous day. He'd never found out what Lily had bought in Hogsmeade the previous day, as they'd ended up getting waylaid in their task to ask James and Albus to accompany them to the hotel for a night.

The couple had easily found Albus at home, where he still lived with Harry and Ginny. Unfortunately Hugo was with him as the pair were working from home. Hugo himself wasn't the problem since neither Scorpius nor Lily would have minded inviting her cousin along, but they couldn't ask Hugo without asking Rose and neither of them wanted Rose tagging along for the weekend. In the end they had to hang around for nearly an hour before they managed to get Albus alone to make the offer. Albus had immediately jumped at the offer of joining them for the weekend.

Locating James took the couple a fair bit longer. He wasn't at work, which was where Lily was banking on him being, and he wasn't at his flat either. Eventually the couple tracked him down to a bar near to where he lived, enjoying a drink with a few friends. When they found him, James explained that it was his day off and he'd been out with his friends all day. Like Albus, James was more than happy to accept the couple's invitation to accompany them to Blaise's hotel.

By the time the couple had located both of Lily's brothers and confirmed they were accompanying them, it was a lot later than they'd expected. That meant by the time they returned to the manor not only were Scorpius's parents around but Alex and Lyra had also returned from their walk down beside the lake. Hermione had then asked if they all fancied going out to dinner, and Scorpius and Lily hadn't wanted to refuse since Alex and Lyra were going and they actually enjoyed spending time with Draco and Hermione.

Dinner had ended up being incredibly enjoyable, and long winded, meaning that by the time everyone returned to the Manor neither Lily nor Scorpius were up to doing anything too strenuous. In the end the couple had just crawled into bed and fell asleep in each other's arms.

Of course that morning when they got up, they got ready for their weekend away and met up with everyone. After arriving at the hotel and taking an hour to settle in, Lily and Lyra had headed off to speak to the chef's and sort the catering for the wedding. Meanwhile Scorpius, Alex, James and Albus had explored the hotel before playing a friendly game of quidditch. They'd them settled in one of the bars and the four wizards had spent the afternoon getting to know one another. When Lily and Lyra had finished with the chefs, they'd joined the boys and the group had grabbed a bite to eat. They'd then gone their separate ways for a few hours, before promising to meet up in the club later on that evening.

When Lily and Scorpius had entered their room, Lily had mentioned the present she'd bought for her fiancé in Hogsmeade. Since they had a few hours to kill before meeting the others, Lily had grabbed a bag from her overnight bag and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving instructions for Scorpius to strip and get on the bed. Never one to disobey his future wife, Scorpius had quickly stripped down to his dark blue boxers before settling himself on the bed.

"Are you ready?" Lily called from the bathroom.

"I'm ready," Scorpius called back, grinning as he wondered what Lily had in store for him.

Scorpius quickly got his answer when the door to the bathroom emerged and his fiancée entered the bedroom. Lily had tied her long red hair up a high ponytail, and she was wearing a green and silver Slytherin quidditch shirt. One shoulder of the shirt was falling down, revealing her creamy shoulder while the shirt stopped mid-thigh, showing off her long toned legs.

"Do you like?" Lily asked.

"I love it," Scorpius chuckled. The sight was quite possibly the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. "What made you pick Slytherin? I might have been in another house if I'd gone to Hogwarts."

"Trust me, you're a Slytherin," Lily laughed. "Do you want me to turn around so you get the full effect?"

Scorpius wasn't sure what difference turning around would make, but he nodded in agreement. When Lily did turn round he understood why she wanted him to see the back view. Not only had Lily bought a Slytherin top to wear for him, she'd had the name Malfoy plastered over the back. The image of Lily walking around with his name on her, had him emitting a low growl.

Lily giggled at the sound Scorpius made as she turned back to her fiancé. It had been clear the moment she emerged from the bathroom that she was turning Scorpius on, but now the tent in his boxers was significantly greater now he'd seen her from the back. When Scorpius spotted where Lily's attention was, he smirked at her as he pulled his boxers off and discarded them on the floor.

"Come here," Scorpius ordered.

Lily happily obeyed her fiancé as she climbed onto the bed and straddled his lap. Scorpius immediately reached up and pulled Lily down into a searing kiss, while his hands worked their way up her legs. When Scorpius's hand slid under the quidditch shirt, he let out a low groan when he realised Lily wasn't wearing anything underneath it.

"Easy access," Lily whispered in Scorpius's ear, causing the blond to groan again.

"You're a naughty girl Lily Potter," Scorpius growled as his fingers delved in between his fiancée's legs and found her massively aroused.

"You'll have to punish me then," Lily replied with a low laugh.

"Later," Scorpius hissed. "Right now, I have another fantasy I want you to fulfil."

"And what's that?" Lily questioned, moaning as Scorpius's fingers teased her.

"I want you to ride me wearing that top," Scorpius answered.

"You don't want me to take it off?" Lily questioned. She wasn't opposed to leaving the top on, but she knew how much Scorpius liked her breasts and they rarely had sex without him being able to see them.

"Not right now," Scorpius said. "Maybe later, but right now I want you wearing the top."

Smiling down at her fiancé, Lily leant over and connected their lips as she readjusted her position on his lap and sank down on him. Scorpius let out a low curse as Lily impaled herself on him. Lily herself broke the kiss as she settled herself on Scorpius and let out her own contented moan.

"Well Lil, get moving," Scorpius smirked, lightly smacking Lily's naked backside.

Lily chuckled at her fiancé as she slowly began to move atop of him. For a while Scorpius was content to let Lily set the pace, but his natural dominance soon surfaced and he urged her to move faster. Wrapping one hand around Lily's neck and pulling her into a heated kiss, Scorpius's other hand trailed in between them where his fingers started to tease Lily's clit.

"Oh Scorp," Lily cried, her movements becoming less controlled as she felt her orgasm approaching.

Reluctantly removing his hand from in between Lily's legs, Scorpius grasped his fiancée's hips and helped her ride him with more force. Once they'd reset a faster, harder rhythm, Scorpius was able to sneak his hand back in between Lily's legs to resume his work there. Within minutes Lily was screaming his name at the top of her voice as she came apart around him. Scorpius rapidly followed his fiancée into oblivion as he cried out his own orgasm.

After recovering, Scorpius removed Lily's top before proceeding to make love to his fiancée at a more leisurely pace. Once the pair had finished their second session, it was time for them to get up and get dressed before they met the others. Of course before they could get dressed they needed to shower, which they did together, which obviously led to a third round of sex. Finally the pair tore themselves away from one another and reluctantly put on some clothes.

"Let's go and meet the others before I tear that dress of you and we begin again," Scorpius said, practically drooling at the sight of Lily in her short green dress.

Grabbing hold of Scorpius's hand, Lily dragged him out of the bedroom and towards the stairs. The nightclub took up a whole of the hotel, which luckily was soundproofed as they second they emerged onto the floor Scorpius and Lily were blasted with a wall of noise. At first the noise was deafening, but within a minute it was possible for them to talk to each other and hear perfectly, something which they both knew came courtesy of a spell. Alex's club had the same spell in place so people could sit and talk if they wanted, but if talking wasn't what they wanted to do they could relax and enjoy the music and great atmosphere.

"This place actually looks like Alex's place," Scorpius remarked as they looked around for any sign of the rest of the group.

Having a club in the hotel had actually been Alex's idea and he'd persuaded Blaise to give it a try. Blaise had agreed to let Alex set up a club in a couple of his hotels and if he liked them, he would include it in all of his establishments.

"This place is packed," Lily said as they spotted the others in a corner booth with a table full of drinks in front of them. "They must let people who aren't staying at the hotel come in."

"It makes sense," Scorpius replied. "If the club was only available to people at the hotel it would always be half empty."

Lily nodded in agreement as they reached their group. Greeting everyone, Lily and Scorpius slid into the booth and each grabbed a drink.

"So what do you think of the place?" Scorpius asked Alex.

"It's good," Alex nodded. "I can't quite decide about the DJ though. Do you think I should get one of my guys in from France?"

"Give him a chance, Alex," Lyra laughed. "We've only been here for ten minutes. Wait and see what the night brings."

"I'll drink to that," Alex said, raising his glass. "To having a good night."

"To having a good night," The group chorused as they raised their glasses and knocked back their drinks.

"Let's go dance," Lyra said to Alex, pulling him to his feet and dragging him onto the dance floor.

"Wow, she's not shy is she?" James chuckled as they watched Lyra grinding up against Alex, who was blatantly getting a good feel under his girlfriend's dress.

"You could never accuse Lyra of being shy," Scorpius laughed, not at all fazed by the behaviour of his sister and best friend.

"So what do you two think of the club?" Lily asked her brothers. "Do you think it's a good idea to have a party here on the Sunday night?"

"I think it's an amazing idea," Albus grinned. "It'll be nice to let our hair down."

"That's what we thought," Scorpius said. "The whole day will be really formal, which will be great, but we thought we needed something a bit more relaxed. We want to have fun."

"I'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun," James grinned, spotting a pretty looking blonde witch at the bar. "And speaking of fun, I'm off to have some now. See you later."

Sliding out of the booth, James made his way over to the witch at the bar and began chatting her up. Within five minutes another witch had joined them and James beckoned for Albus to join them. Throwing back his drink, Albus took off to join his brother and the two witches he successfully chatted up.

"It looks like it's just you and me," Lily said to Scorpius as they watched James and Albus taking the witches out onto the dance floor. "Do you want to dance?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Scorpius grinned as they got to their feet and went to join the others on the dance floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Shopping for a wedding dress took longer to arrange than Lily originally thought. As well as having her mother, grandmother and Lyra present, Lily also wanted Hermione and Narcissa with her as she valued both witches opinions. However, Narcissa and Lucius had remained in New York for almost a week before they'd returned home. Then no sooner had they returned than Hermione received an urgent message from work informing her about a small fire in one of the exhibit rooms. Hermione had obviously returned to France for a few days and she managed the crisis and checked on the damage the fire had caused.

Molly and Ginny had both tried to persuade Lily that she didn't need Hermione and Narcissa with her, but Lily was adamant she wanted the two Malfoy witches present as she searched for a wedding dress. Even when both Hermione and Narcissa were back at the Manor and available, Lily's family still took control of proceedings. Ginny had insisted they visit the bridal shop where she and Lavender got their dresses from before even considering going to the place in France that Narcissa had recommended. Hermione knew Ginny was hoping that Lily would find the prefect dress at the first shop, so they didn't have to go somewhere that the Malfoy's had used in the past.

On the day in question, Lily had arranged to meet her family at the bridal shop in a wizarding town just outside of Manchester. Accompanied by Lyra, Hermione and Narcissa, Lily arrived in a wizarding pub in Manchester bright and early in the morning. Following her mother's instructions, Lily led the way from the pub and through the town centre, until they spotted the bridal shop. The bridal shop was one of the largest shops they'd come across and there were several fancy dresses on display in the window.

"Wow, this place is pink," Lyra remarked, looking at the decorations in the window that were all various shades of pink. Lyra wasn't a huge fan of pink, and for her the shop was just too much.

"Maybe it's not so bad inside," Narcissa said hopefully. While she wasn't as opposed to pink as her granddaughter, Narcissa preferred things in moderation, and the bridal shop didn't seem to do moderation when it came to the colour pink.

Luckily the inside of the shop only contained the barest hint of pink. In fact inside the shop actually looked like a very classy and sophisticated shop. There were various displays of dresses and accessories dotted all around the large room, and towards the back of the room were several wooden doors. There was also a cash register in the corner of the room and the witch who was sitting behind it, jumped up and made her way over to where the four witches had entered her room.

"You must be Lily," The witch said, smiling at Lily. "Your family are waiting in one of the back rooms. Feel free to call if you need any assistance, and don't worry about returning any dresses you take in to try on. We'll sort the room out after you've gone."

The witch pointed the group towards one of the doors at the back of the room, before returning to her work. Lily led the way to the rooms at the back of the shop, and pushing open the door the shop assistant had pointed to, she found her family all sitting with a glass of champagne. Lily had fully been expecting to see her mother and grandmother at the shop and she wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see her Aunt Lavender also in the shop, however she hadn't expected to find Rose tagging along.

"Finally." Ginny jumped up as she spotted her daughter entering the room. "We were beginning to think you weren't coming."

"We're not late," Lily said, looking around the room.

One corner of the room contained a changing room, while there was a selection of comfortable seats in the centre of the room where her family were sitting. Beside the seats was a table with a couple of bottles of champagne and some glasses. There was also a couple of clothes racks in the room, and one of the racks had several dresses already on it.

"Rose, this is my best friend, Lyra. And this is Narcissa, Scorpius's grandmother," Lily said, introducing her cousin around to the Malfoys she hadn't yet met.

"Nice to meet you," Rose said, not bothering to get up from where she was sitting swigging her free champagne.

"We've already picked a few dresses we think you might like," Ginny told her daughter as the Malfoys all said their hellos and sat down.

"And we can always go and pick some more," Molly said. "There's a massive range in the shop, I'm sure you can find something you'll like."

"I'll look at these first," Lily said, pulling Lyra with her as she walked over to the rack of dresses that was standing beside the changing rooms.

Lily and Lyra flicked through the dresses and Lily was dismayed to find that all of them were large and bulky. She'd seen pictures of both her mother's and Lavender's wedding dresses, and both of them had favoured a big white meringue style dress. While both the dresses had been lovely and had totally suited Ginny and Lavender, Lily didn't think they would suit her. She'd been thinking about something a bit more understated and streamlined, like the pictures she'd seen of Hermione's gorgeous slim-line wedding dress.

"They're all white," Lyra commented as they looked through the dresses.

"Wedding dresses usually are," Rose snorted from where she was sitting nearby.

"Not necessarily," Lyra replied. "You can get dresses that are more ivory and cream. Then there's the deeply dramatic ones which can be red or something like that. I've also seen silver dresses, and you can get them in pastel colours."

"You can't get married in a red dress Lily," Molly exclaimed in horror.

"I'm not going to get married in a red dress," Lily laughed. "Lyra was just pointing out there's other colours beside white."

"Who would get married in anything but a white dress?" Lavender sneered.

"That would be me," Hermione said. "My wedding dress was ivory."

"Us Weasleys always get married in white," Molly stated.

Lyra rolled her eyes at the Weasleys old fashioned way of thinking as she returned to help Lily sort through the dresses. Some of the dresses Lily dismissed without even trying on, but there was a few she agreed to try so she didn't offend her family.

"Have you seen the size of this skirt?" Lyra said, pulling the last dress off the rack.

"That's big," Lily said. Apart from the skirt, which was like some super-sized ball gown, the rest of the dress was beautiful and she especially loved the design on the bodice of the dress.

"I bet you could get a person under there," Lyra remarked. "Now, that could be fun. You could hide Scorp under your dress and no-one would know."

Lily chuckled at her friend as she took the dress off her and put it to one side to try on just for the fun of it. While Hermione and Narcissa also chuckled quietly at Lyra's comments, Rose looked completely shocked by what her cousins' best friend had just suggested. Ginny, Lavender and Molly were also unimpressed and they shared an unamused look at Lyra's remarks.

"Do you need any help getting into the dress?" Lyra asked Lily as her friend picked the first dress she would try on.

"I'll call if I need help," Lily replied as she disappeared into the changing room.

When Lily emerged she was wearing a large white dress, which immediately had Ginny, Molly and Lavender gushing over her. Lily however wasn't keen on the dress and she grabbed another one before disappearing into the changing room again. The next dress was very similar, and again Lily's family all loved it. After the fourth dress she'd tried on, which was the best of the ones she'd tried on, Lily turned to the Malfoys who'd all been silent.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"It's not really my style," Narcissa said tactfully. "It's a nice dress, but I'm not sure it's really you."

"The important thing is what you think," Hermione told Lily. "It's your dress and you have to love it. Have you felt that with any dress you've tried on yet?"

"No, I haven't," Lily admitted. "They're nice, but they're not the one."

"Thank Merlin for that," Lyra exclaimed, letting out a relieved breath. "I'm sorry Lil, but you look like a doll in those dresses."

"I thought she looked lovely," Ginny said, glaring at Lyra. Hermione's daughter was very outspoken and Ginny wasn't sure she liked it.

"Maybe we should go and look for some more dresses," Rose suggested. "We can even look at bridesmaid's dresses."

"I think Lily's dress is more important," Lyra tutted.

"There's no harm in looking at what they have," Lavender said. "We will have to start thinking about bridesmaid dresses soon."

"We can look while we're here," Lily said in a bid to keep the peace. "I'll be two minutes, and we can go and see if they have anything else."

Once Lily was out of the wedding dress and back into her normal clothes, everyone headed out into the main part of the shop to look for more dresses. Molly, Lavender and Ginny all made their way over to the section that contained the white dresses, while Narcissa and Hermione browsed the small selection of dresses that weren't white. Rose had found a section of the shop that held the bridesmaid's dresses, while Lily and Lyra just wandered from section to section.

"I can't see anything spectacular here," Lyra whispered to Lily.

"I know, but I don't want to dismiss this place without even trying," Lily told her best friend. "I'll try on a few more dresses before suggesting we head to France."

After picking a couple of nice dresses to try, Lily and Lyra returned to the back room. Hermione and Narcissa were already back in the room, with the one dress they'd managed to find. However when Molly, Ginny and Lavender returned they each had three of four dresses in their arms.

"Where's Rose?" Lily asked as she began to search through the new selection of dresses.

"Here I am," Rose announced as she entered the room. "And I've found the perfect bridesmaid dress."

With a flourish, Rose pulled out a long bubble-gum pink dress and held it up for everyone to see. The skirt of the dress was almost as big as some of the dresses Lily had tried on earlier and there were ruffles all around the neck and shoulders of the dress. Not to mention the dress was extremely bright and garish.

"Holy crap, that's disgusting," Lyra blurted out without thinking.

"What are you talking about, it's lovely," Rose huffed. "It's pink."

"And that's just the start of the problems," Lyra remarked. "No-one would wear such a vulgar dress at someone else's wedding. Talk about showing up the bride. I wouldn't be seen dead in anything like that."

"It's not up to you though, is it?" Lavender snapped at the young witch. "Lily will make the choice about the bridesmaid dresses, not you."

"And if you're not happy, you can step aside," Molly said.

"No-one will be stepping aside," Lily said firmly. "Lyra is my chief bridesmaid, and I value her opinion. But I don't need Lyra to tell me that dress is ugly, I can see that for myself. Sorry Rose, I know you like pink, but you won't be wearing a bright pink dress. I haven't totally decided on a colour for the bridesmaid dresses yet, but I'm leaning towards something like a nice lilac."

Glaring at Lyra, Rose threw the dress she was holding onto a nearby chair as she settled down in a mood. Lavender also shot Lyra a dirty look as she sat down next to her daughter. Lyra wasn't the slightest bit bothered by the looks Lily's cousin and Aunt were throwing her way as she headed over to help Lily with her new dress selection.

The atmosphere remained frosty as Lily tried on the new selection of dresses. It didn't help that the dresses Molly, Lavender and Ginny had picked were very similar to the earlier ones and Lily and the Malfoys were clearly not keen. Then the couple of dresses Hermione and Narcissa liked, Lily's family disliked. Molly especially didn't like them and claimed they were too modern and didn't look enough like a wedding dress.

"I think we need to move elsewhere," Lily said as she placed the last dress on the rack. While she'd found a few dresses she liked, she hadn't fallen in love with any of them.

"We can always go to the boutique in France," Narcissa offered. "We'll have time this afternoon."

"I'm sure we can find something here if we just keep looking," Molly said. "We don't have to go abroad to get a dress."

"There's nothing here, Gran," Lily said gently. "We should at least give France a try."

Lily's family reluctantly agreed to try the boutique to France as they packed up and left the bridal shop. Since it was lunchtime the group ate in the pub where Lily and the Malfoys had first flooed to, as they discussed their next move. Rather than head back to London to arrange for an international portkey, it was decided to see if the pub could open up an international connection on one of their fires. If they could, Hermione could floo home and ensure everyone could floo to her house, where they could them proceed to the boutique Narcissa recommended.

Getting an international floo connection opened wasn't the easiest thing to achieve, but luckily the Malfoys money made things significantly smoother. After Narcissa had handed the landlady a bag of galleons, a connection was made and Hermione headed home to alter the wards on the fire. After five minutes, which was more than enough time for her to alter the floo connection, the fire lit up and Lily stepped from the flames. Lily was followed by the rest of her family, with Lyra and Narcissa bringing up the rear.

The second Molly, Lavender and Ginny arrived in Hermione's home they instantly started to look around. However the floo in the Malfoys house just connected to a room specially designed for floo access so while the room was beautifully decorated, it contained nothing personal that offered her former friends a glimpse of what her life was now like.

"How are we going to get to this bridal shop?" Lavender asked when it became clear they weren't going to see any of the main house.

"We could apparate," Narcissa said. "Lily, you know the village where the shop is located, don't you?"

"I do," Lily nodded. "We can each take one member of my family." She suggested, taking hold of her mother's arm.

Despite Rose's unimpressed glare, she took hold of Lyra's arm when the other witch offered it to her. At the same time Narcissa offered to escort Molly to the bridal shop, while Hermione offered to take Lavender. Once everyone was set, the four witches who knew where they were going whipped out their wands and apparated to the village just outside of Paris where the bridal shop was located.

"This place is gorgeous," Ginny remarked as Lily let go of her arm.

"It is a nice village," Narcissa said. "The bridal boutique is just down the street."

Narcissa led the way to the bridal boutique, which was at least half the size of the one they'd visited that morning. Despite being smaller than the shop they'd already visited, the boutique still held a large selection of dresses.

"Wow," Ginny breathed as Narcissa and Hermione spoke to the witch that ran the boutique. "This place looks amazing."

"It looks pricey," Molly sniffed.

"Price isn't an issue," Narcissa remarked, as she finished up with the owner. "Lucius and I are more than willing to foot the bill."

"That's alright, we'll manage," Ginny replied through gritted teeth. While the Potters may not have as much money as the Malfoys they were by no means poor and Ginny intended to make sure they contributed to their daughter's wedding.

"Let's worry about who's paying when we find a dress," Lily said.

After searching through the dresses, Lily had found three dresses she immediately fell in love with. All three were slim line dresses and none of them were pure white. One was off-white, one was cream and gold while the third one was a delicate shade of ice blue. The off white dress was a halter necked dress, the cream and gold dress was strapless and the ice blue one had thin straps and a shrug to accompany it.

"I still don't know what's wrong with pure white," Molly grumbled as Lily headed into the changing room to slip into the first dress.

"They might not be white, but they are lovely dresses," Ginny admitted, sipping on the champagne that the boutique had provided.

When Lily emerged wearing the first dress, everyone agreed she looked lovely. However she'd tried the ice blue dress first and the common consensus was the dress would work better for a winter wedding.

"I'm going to try the cream one next," Lily announced. The beautiful cream dress with the delicate gold patterns on the bodice was her favourite, and she was hoping it looked as stunning on her as it looked on the hanger.

As it turned out the dress looked even better on Lily and even before she emerged from the changing room Lily knew she'd found the dress. When she did emerge into the main part of the boutique, Lily was met with gasps of delight.

"You look amazing," Hermione told her future daughter-in-law.

"You do," Lyra agreed. "That dress is perfect."

"It's gorgeous," Ginny told her daughter. While it wouldn't have been a dress she would have chosen herself she had to admit it looked stunning on her daughter.

"It is a nice dress," Molly admitted. "It's just a shame it isn't white."

"It wouldn't work in white," Lily said. "But what do people think, is this the one?"

"That's your decision," Hermione told Lily. "The dress is stunning, but it has to be your choice."

"This is it," Lily decided. "This is the dress."

Once Lily had removed the dress, Narcissa spoke to the owner to buy the dress and arrange a final fitting nearer the time of the wedding. With Lily's dress sorted, the group took the time to have a look at the bridesmaid dresses. However things didn't go great as every time Lyra said she liked a dress Rose curled her nose up in disgust. Eventually it was decided that the bridesmaid dresses could wait a while longer until Lily decided what colour she wanted them to be.

"Thank you all for coming," Lily said as the group left the boutique. "I've really appreciated all the advice you've given me."

"You're welcome sweetheart," Ginny smiled at her daughter as she wrapped her arm around Lily. "We're just pleased you've sorted the dress."

"Now you need to start thinking about accessories, bridesmaid's dresses, flowers and décor for the ceremony and reception," Molly said. "I've got a list at home of things we still need to do."

"We can maybe look at the list another time," Lily told her grandmother. "Right now I'm tired. All I want to do is go home and see Scorpius."

Leaving the village, everyone apparated back to Hermione's house where they all flooed home. While the day hadn't ran the smoothest, they'd found Lily a dress and that had been the aim of the day.


	10. Chapter 10

Scorpius lay staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Beside him Lily was sleeping soundly and Scorpius envied his fiancée's ability to sleep so peacefully. Unfortunately for Scorpius his mind just wouldn't shut down enough for him to get to sleep, instead he was replaying the last few weeks and thinking back on the encounters he'd had with Lily's family.

Knowing sleep wasn't going to come anytime soon, Scorpius carefully slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of pyjama bottoms. He then crept out of the bedroom and headed downstairs, where he poured himself a glass of firewhisky and settled down in front of the fire in the living room.

Scorpius had only been in the room for five minutes when he heard a sound behind him. Turning round he found his mother in the doorway of the living room. Hermione was wearing a long dark purple silk robe and looked as though she'd just woken up.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked in concern when she spotted the firewhisky her son was nursing.

Hermione knew that Scorpius was like her and when something was bothering him he couldn't sleep. When he was a child he used to get up in the middle of the night and play with his toys, but as he'd grown up Hermione would find him in the library reading. However she'd never found him sitting drinking in the middle of the night and she hoped he wasn't having second thoughts about getting married.

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?" She continued.

"Of course not. Marrying Lily is what I want more than anything," Scorpius reassured his mother.

"Good, because she's a lovely girl and the pair of you are perfect together," Hermione smiled at her son as she sat down next to him. "So if you're not worried about the wedding, what's bothering you?"

"I was just thinking about Lily's family," Scorpius admitted. "Apart from James and Albus, none of them have made the effort to get to know me, and I haven't even met most of them."

"Maybe we should arrange some sort of gathering that's a bit less formal," Hermione suggested. "So far you've had two dinners, a hotel tour and a cake testing to get to know Lily's family. Maybe we can arrange some sort of gathering where people mingle and you can get to know people on a one to one basis."

"Like a party?" Scorpius queried, not really sure that throwing a party would help matters.

"I was thinking more like a barbecue," Hermione said. "I'm sure your grandparents wouldn't mind if we commandeered their back garden for a few hours. We can talk to Lily and make sure she invites all her family. She can invite all her aunts and uncles and cousins."

"What are her other family like?" Scorpius queried after agreeing the barbecue was a good idea. "Are her other uncles all like Ron?"

"If you mean will they all be as against you as Ron, then I doubt it," Hermione replied. "I admit I don't know Bill and Charlie that well as they were both abroad for the majority of the time I was friends with Harry and Ron. However the times I did meet them they were really nice and I think they'd be willing to give you a chance. Percy will probably be a bit standoffish, but he's like that with everyone, even his own family. Now George, he's a character." Hermione couldn't help but smile widely as she thought about the fun loving George, someone who had always been a good friend to her.

"I take it you like George," Scorpius deduced, noticing how happy his mother was to mention Lily's uncle.

"I do," Hermione nodded. "George is lovely. Out of everyone he was the only Weasley to get in touch after Harry and Ron ended our friendship. George wrote to me and told me to follow my heart. He said that life was too short for regrets, and if I wanted to be with your dad then I shouldn't let anyone stop me. George also made it clear that he wasn't disowning me and he would always be there if I needed him."

"Why didn't you keep in touch then?" Scorpius questioned.

"I didn't want to cause problems for George," Hermione replied. "He'd just lost Fred and he needed his family. I wasn't going to do anything that would cause the rest of the family to turn on George. We wrote to each other occasionally, but as the years passed the contact dwindled."

"But you think George will give me a chance?"

"I think a few of the Weasleys will."

"They haven't so far, barring Lily's brothers," Scorpius snorted. "Her parents have barely said two words to me, and her grandparents haven't been much better. Then there's her uncle who does nothing but give me dirty looks."

"I'm sure with time you'll learn to get along with Harry and Ginny," Hermione soothed her son. "And I'm sure Molly and Arthur will come round as well. They are all being really helpful with organising the wedding. Even if they are a bit annoying at times."

"They're only helping because they know it's happening whether they like it or not," Scorpius pointed out. He was well aware that if Lily's family honestly thought they could get her to call off the wedding they would have already tried to separate them.

"As I said, they'll come round in time," Hermione smiled reassuringly at her son, who was clearly worried about the fact his future in-laws were being so difficult.

"Not all of them will though, will they?" Scorpius questioned. "Ron will never accept me, will he?"

"No, I don't think he will," Hermione admitted with a sigh.

"Why is he the most difficult one?" Scorpius questioned. "I understand the bad blood between our families goes back a long time, but why won't he let the past stay in the past."

"It's difficult to explain," Hermione shrugged. "I think it stems back to school. All the Weasleys had grown up hating the Malfoys, just like your father had grown up hating families like the Weasleys, but it was Ron who happened to be in the same year as Draco. I think that's why he finds it harder to let go of the past, because he had the most contact with your father and they hated each other back in school."

"Was Dad really that bad back in school?" Scorpius asked. He knew all about his father's history, but he also knew he'd worked hard to leave his tainted past behind him.

"Actually I think most of your father's badness was a front he put on to hide his true self," Hermione said. "I'm not saying he was an angel, because he wasn't. I would say for the first five years of our school life he was no different from any other pureblood who'd been brought up to think they were superior to everyone else. Yes, he would hurl insults around and throw the occasional hex, but it was never anything worse than what other people did. And to be honest Harry and Ron weren't opposed to winding your father up and starting arguments."

"And what about after fifth year?" Scorpius asked quietly. Even though he knew all about that particular part of his father's history, it was rarely spoken about.

"That's when things got tough for your father, and some of his actions had serious consequences," Hermione replied. "I suppose on one hand I can understand Ron holding grudges since he was caught up in things and poisoned. However, directly after the war Ron accepted that your father had never meant to hurt him, he was just trying to be caught and helped. Ron's problems with Draco only reappeared once we got together, before that he was more than happy to give your father a second chance."

"Did Ron fancy you?" Scorpius asked. Even though he knew Ron had been with Lavender since sixth year of Hogwarts, he had to wonder if Lily's uncle had unrequited feelings for his mother, hence his unwillingness to accept her relationship with his father.

"Maybe, once upon a time," Hermione answered. "But that was before Lavender. Once he got with Lavender, he never looked at me as more than a friend. I know Lavender was sometimes insecure about our friendship and it caused problems between them at times, but Ron never did anything that led me to believe his feelings for me were still present. I was Ron's first crush, nothing more."

"There has to be something more," Scorpius scoffed. "Why would he still be so against us Malfoys? Even Harry doesn't seem to resent Dad as much as Ron does."

"I would say that back in school relations between your father and Ron were worse than relations between him and Harry," Hermione said. "The bad feelings between Draco and Ron stemmed back to Arthur and Lucius and had been simmering for years. They hated each other on sight purely because of what their last name was. Harry however was a different story. I know for a fact that your father and Harry first met in Diagon Alley before school even started. They had no idea who each other was and there was no problems between them. By the time they got to school Harry had made friends with Ron and Ron had told him all about the Malfoys and their connection to the dark. Therefore when your father offered the hand of friendship, albeit it in his own high-handed way, Harry threw it back in his face. After that your father could never forgive Harry for humiliating him."

"So if that hadn't have happened things might not have been as bad between Dad and Harry," Scorpius surmised.

"Maybe, or maybe it had nothing to do with anything. Even without the incident, your Dad was still a Slytherin and Harry was still a Gryffindor and best friends with a Weasley. I think given those circumstances they were never going to be anything other than enemies."

"Sometimes I'm pleased I didn't go to Hogwarts," Scorpius admitted. When he was younger he'd often thought about attending Hogwarts and being sorted into Slytherin, but when his parents had given him the choice of where he wanted to go to school he'd chosen Beauxbatons so he could go to school with Alex. "I think if I had, Lily and I would never have gotten together. I think if I'd went to school with her and her brothers they might have taken against me because of my name, and then she might never have given me a chance."

"That's something we'll never know," Hermione said. "There are loads of instances in life when things could have worked out differently if only we'd made a different choice. For example, you wouldn't be here if I'd chosen Harry and Ron over your father."

"Do you ever regret your choice?"

"Not for one second," Hermione replied instantly. "Even the times when your father and I have been fighting and I would love nothing more than to hex his arse into oblivion, I've never regretted picking him. I wouldn't change my life with your father for anything. Draco, you and Lyra and the most precious things in my world, and you lot are worth giving up anything for. I love the three of you so much and I don't regret where my life's taken me."

Scorpius smiled at his mother, before leaning over and pulling her into a hug. Despite being surprised by the sudden action, Hermione wrapped her arms around her son and returned the hug.

"What's that for?" She asked when Scorpius pulled back.

"Nothing," Scorpius shrugged. "I just love you."

"I love you too," Hermione smiled. "Now since it's the middle of the night I think it's time we both returned to bed. We can talk about the barbecue idea in the morning, and don't worry about Lily's family. The Weasleys are hot-headed at times, but on a whole they're a good family. All they want is for Lily to be happy, and once they've accepted you make Lily happy, they'll accept you."

"I hope you're right," Scorpius sighed as he stood up.

"I'm your mother, I'm always right," Hermione smiled.

"Mother knows best, eh?" Scorpius laughed.

"Yes, she does," Hermione laughed along with her son. "And I'm telling you to stop worrying and everything will work itself out. Just look at me and your grandfather. He was not happy when Draco and I first got together and for a long time we merely tolerated each other, but now we love each other."

"How?" Scorpius asked as they began to slowly climb the stairs. "How did things change with you and Grandpa?"

"He realised that I loved your father more than anything, and that I made him happy," Hermione explained. "Once Lucius had accepted I was here to stay he let me in and I saw there was more to him that I'd originally thought. He let me see the man your father insisted was there, the man who would do anything for his son, even accept a muggleborn into the family."

"While I don't think I'll ever be as close to Lily's family as you are to Dad's, I'll settle for them accepting me," Scorpius said.

"They will, just give it time," Hermione reassured her son as they stopped at the top of the stairs. Leaning over she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Night Scorp."

"Night Mum."

Scorpius watched his mother turn and head towards the room she shared with his father, before he turned in the opposite direction and headed back to the room he and Lily were sharing. Lily was still sound asleep when he re-entered the room, so being as quiet as he could Scorpius stripped off his pyjama bottoms and climbed back into bed with his fiancée.

As he wrapped Lily in his arms, Scorpius drifted off to sleep feeling a lot better about things. A few hours ago he'd been seriously worried about Lily's family not really accepting him, but a talk with his mother had given him hope. It may take time, but hopefully the Potters and Weasleys would learn to accept him as Lily's partner when they saw she meant the world to him and he would do anything to make her happy.


	11. Chapter 11

Lily loved the idea of hosting a barbecue for her family and she agreed with Hermione that a more casual setting would hopefully prove more successful at getting them to interact with Scorpius. Lucius and Draco weren't particularly thrilled at the idea of having the entire gaggle of Weasleys around the manor, but they agreed to make an effort for Scorpius and Lily's sake.

Since they wanted as many members of Lily's family to attend as possible, a decision was made to host the barbecue in a couple of weeks' time. That way Lily could speak to her entire family and ensure they were all available for the day of the barbecue. Although Lily had ensured that the barbecue wasn't held on a Sunday as she didn't want Molly to think they were trying to usurp her as hostess.

With the men organising the barbecue, Lily was able to focus on what she still needed doing for the wedding. Now her dress was sorted she could turn her attention to the bridesmaid's dresses. A few days after buying her dress, Lily had a brainwave regarding the bridesmaid dresses. Lily spoke to Hermione about her idea and with the help of her future mother-in-law they contacted the bridal shop they'd got her dress from and arranged to have a few samples of dresses knocked up.

When the samples were ready, Lily arranged for another trip to France to make some final decisions. Obviously Lyra and Rose had to be present for the fittings, and Lily had asked both Hermione and her mother to accompany them. Of course Lavender insisted on joining them, but quite surprisingly Harry also decided to accompany the group heading off to France. While Harry wasn't bothered about the bridesmaid's dresses, he was planning on taking everyone out for lunch afterwards.

Instead of flooing to Hermione's house and apparating to the bridal shop from there, Harry had arranged a portkey to transport everyone to France. Everyone who was heading to France met at the Ministry, where they took the portkey directly to the village where the bridal shop was located.

"You were right Gin, this place is lovely," Harry said to his wife. "Do you think we can find somewhere for lunch?"

"There's a couple of really nice restaurants in the village," Hermione said.

"I might go and check them out while you lot sort the dresses," Harry suggested. "We can meet up when you're finished."

"Shouldn't we sort out how many people are going to be eating?" Lavender questioned. "You might need to book a table, and for that you'll need numbers."

"Hermione?" Harry turned to his old friend. "Will you and Lyra be coming to lunch?"

"I can't," Lyra announced. "I've agreed to meet some friends while I'm over here."

"I'm not sure I'll be able to make it either," Hermione said. "I want to call at the museum and check how they're doing after the fire. The exhibit room should be fully fixed now, and I need to check it out."

With numbers for lunch sorted, Harry headed off to find a place to eat, while the women made their way to the bridal shop. The group were greeted by the friendly witch who ran the place and she led them into a back room where she had the sample dresses on a rack.

"Gold?" Rose wrinkled her nose in distaste as she eyed the line of dresses up. "Why gold?"

"To match the detailing on my dress," Lily replied. "The bridesmaid's dresses are an exact match for the gold on my dress."

"That's a brilliant idea," Ginny said.

"I still think something like pink would have been better," Rose grumbled.

"I like the gold," Lyra said firmly. "It's much classier than pink," She added, throwing Rose a smirk worthy of her father.

Rose glared at Lyra, but before she had a chance to say anything Lavender dragged her daughter over to the dresses so they could have a closer look. Flicking through the dresses Rose was dismayed to find there wasn't one dress was a long floating skirt, they were all slim line like Lily's dress.

"Big fancy bridesmaid's dresses don't work with my dress," Lily explained when Lavender mentioned the selection of dresses. She was cutting her family some slack with their overbearingness, but she wasn't about to be bullied into anything. "I want Lyra and Rose to have a dress that fits with mine."

"Do you want them in the same style dress?" Ginny asked, looking at the vast selection that had been made up. The dresses ranged in length and had various styled tops.

"I'm happy for them to have different styles of dress," Lily answered. "As long as they're gold, I'm happy. That's why we've got so many prototypes here. We can find a dress to suit each of them and they can be fitted to make sure they fit perfectly."

"I don't want anything too long," Rose insisted. "I don't want to fall over and make a fool of myself."

"You don't need to fall over to achieve that," Lyra muttered in French so that Rose wouldn't understand her.

"Lyra behave," Hermione hissed at her daughter, having heard her crack about Rose.

"Sorry, but you have to admit she's annoying," Lyra whispered back at her mother. Even though they were still conversing in French, she made sure to keep her voice low so no-one would overhear them.

"Just ignore her," Hermione advised. "Concentrate on finding your own dress and making sure everything runs smoothly for Lily. If Rose wants to be awkward, let her. You're better than that."

Lyra nodded at her mother and gave her a smile before turning around and looking through the dresses for styles she liked. While Rose was complaining about almost every dress, Lyra easily found several she liked and went to try them on. Eager to get away from her moaning cousin, Lily went with Lyra to the changing rooms. Not wanting to get involved in Rose's complaints, Hermione wandered off to look at other bits and pieces as she knew Lily was hoping to get all the accessories sorted while they were here.

Hermione had only been looking around for a few minutes when she spotted Harry peering through the window. The second he saw her, he beckoned her over to him. Putting down the tiara she was looking at, Hermione went to the door to see what Harry wanted.

"You can come in you know," Hermione said. "Men are allowed inside."

"I would have come in, but then I spotted you and my problems were solved," Harry replied.

"What problems?" Hermione asked. "Do you want me to get Ginny?"

"No, it's your help I need," Harry said. "I found a lovely looking place to eat down the road, but I'm having problems booking a table since I can't speak French and their English isn't very good."

"There's no real need for them to speak English, the village isn't really a tourist spot," Hermione explained.

"Can you help me?" Harry pleaded.

"I can help you," Hermione nodded. "But I'm just going to let the others know where I'm going."

Darting back into the shop, Hermione told the others where she was going and checked with Lily and Lyra that they would be okay without her. Both Lily and Lyra urged her to go and help Harry and Lily promised that someone would come and find her if she was needed. With things inside the boutique sorted, Hermione returned to where Harry was waiting for her outside in the sunshine. The two old friends then strolled to the restaurant that Harry wanted to eat at and Hermione reserved him a table for lunch in fluent French.

"Thanks," Harry said as they exited the restaurant and headed back towards the bridal boutique. "Although we do now have to try and get through lunch with the language barrier."

"Lily can help there, her French is pretty impressive," Hermione said.

"Really?" Harry questioned, before he remembered his daughter had been studying in France for the last two years and would obviously have picked up some of the language. "That was a stupid thing to say, I should have realised she could speak French."

"I'm sure it's easy to forget when you've never heard her using the language," Hermione said.

"How well do your two children speak French?" Harry asked. It was only just occurring to him that both Scorpius and Lyra spoke perfect English and neither of them had an accent of any sort that indicated they'd been raised in a foreign country.

"Perfectly. Both Scorpius and Lyra are bi-lingual. They can often flit from English to French in the one sentence," Hermione explained.

"Did you teach them English first, or French?" Harry asked.

"They kind of learnt both together," Hermione shrugged. "Obviously Draco and I tend to speak more in English, but we're both fluent in French and growing up we made sure Scorpius and Lyra could understand both languages."

"It sounds complicated to me," Harry chuckled. "We had enough problems teaching our three English. James just made up his own words for everything, and he kept trying to teach Albus and Lily his language when they were learning to talk."

"Luckily we had none of that," Hermione laughed as they reached the bridal boutique and came to a halt.

"Do you have to go back in, or can you stay and talk?" Harry asked. "I feel like we haven't had a good talk since we re-met."

"I can stay and talk," Hermione replied. "Let's go and get a coffee across the road," She said, gesturing to a café directly opposite the bridal boutique. "If we sit outside, we'll be in plain view if we're needed."

While Harry settled down at one of the tables placed on the street outside the café, Hermione entered to get the drinks. Again the café workers only spoke French, so sending Harry for the drinks seemed a bit pointless as he would either come back empty handed or with the wrong thing. When Hermione returned she set the two cups of coffee on the table and sat down opposite her old friend.

"I think I should start by apologising," Harry began as he sipped his coffee. "We made a massive mistake all those years ago, and I wish I could take it all back and start again."

"Unfortunately that's not possible," Hermione sighed. "All we can do is move on and try to forge a new friendship for the sake of our children."

"Why only for their sake?" Harry frowned. "Why can't we be friends again because we want to be?"

"Because we don't," Hermione laughed humourlessly. "If Scorpius and Lily hadn't gotten involved we never would have seen each other again."

"You don't know that," Harry argued. "I might have come to my senses and looked you up."

"You've had decades to do that," Hermione pointed out. "If you'd really wanted to remain friends with me, you never would have disowned me all those years ago."

"What do you think would have happened if I'd gotten in touch shortly after you finished school?" Harry asked out of curiosity. Once Hermione had left school and it was clear she wasn't getting back in touch with them Harry had been tempted to find her, but he'd never had the bottle to do so. "Do you think we could have still been friends?"

"Possibly. But we never would have been as close," Hermione replied. "You and Ron destroyed our friendship by walking away from me. An apology shortly after the event might have salvaged some sort of relationship, but it wouldn't have been the same."

"And would you have ever gotten in touch if things had gone differently between you and Malfoy?" Harry asked. "Would it have made a difference if we'd been right about him?"

"No," Hermione shook her head as she drank her hot coffee. "Even if you'd been right and Draco had been using me, I wouldn't have ran back to you and Ron. The pair of you broke my heart Harry, and no matter what had happened I never would have come looking for you. Even if Draco had dumped me the day afterwards, I still wouldn't have come running."

"We were wrong," Harry said quietly.

"Do you mean you were wrong about Draco, or you were wrong to force me to choose?" Hermione queried.

"Both," Harry admitted in a small voice. "But at the time we thought we were doing the right thing. We were both so convinced that Malfoy was just using you and would end up breaking your heart."

"Then surely that was even more reason to stick around," Hermione retorted. "If you and Ron genuinely thought I was going to get hurt, shouldn't you have wanted to be around for me if the worse did happen? As it was if Draco had ended up breaking my heart I would have had to deal with it on my own."

Harry was silent for a minute as he contemplated what Hermione was saying. She was right of course, they should have been there for her even more since they believed she was going to get hurt. They shouldn't have walked away, they should have stayed by her side.

"I'm sorry Hermione," Harry said, not knowing what else to say.

"So am I," Hermione said sadly. "There's a lot of times I could have done with my best friends being around. Not only the happy times, but the sad times as well."

"What sad times?" Harry asked, worrying in case something major had happened to Hermione and they'd never known.

"It doesn't matter." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"It does," Harry insisted. "I know things will never be the same between us, but I think we can salvage something from our friendship. And as your friend, I want to know what I've missed in your life."

"I doubt we have time for all of that. It has been over twenty five years."

"Tell me the highlights," Harry said. "Tell me how long you've been married. Tell me about your parents and children."

"Draco and I got married eighteen months after leaving school and moving to France," Hermione answered. "My parents had their memories fully resorted a few months before Draco and I got married, but things were never the same between us. They never forgave me for what I did to them and we only saw them occasionally over the years."

"You're talking about them in the past tense," Harry noted. "Are they not with us any longer?"

"No," Hermione shook her head. "My Dad died about eight years ago of a heart attack. Shortly after that my Mum was taken ill, but she refused to come and live with us in France and she wouldn't let me move to Australia. We found a care home in Melbourne that she really liked and she moved in there so she could have the support she needed. My Mum died three years ago."

"I'm so sorry Hermione." Harry gently took hold of Hermione's hand and gave it a squeeze. No doubt everything with her parents had been the sad times she'd spoken about wishing her friends were with her.

"It's alright, I had Draco and the kids to help me through it," Hermione said. "Not to mention Lucius and Narcissa, they've been great to me over the years."

"It's always nice to get along with your in-laws," Harry remarked. "Now what about your kids, tell me about them."

"There's not much to tell," Hermione shrugged. "We decided it was time to start a family and almost immediately I fell pregnant with Scorpius. Lyra was a result of her brother's mischievousness. Somehow Scorpius managed to climb up onto the sink in the master bathroom and get into the bathroom cabinet. He then proceeded to swap all of the labels on the potions bottles, so instead of taking a contraceptive potion I was drinking mouthwash."

"Could you not tell the difference between a contraceptive potion and mouthwash?" Harry laughed.

"The contraceptive potion I take can be altered to taste like whatever you want. Since I take the potion nightly after I brush my teeth, I charmed it to taste like mint," Hermione explained.

"How did you find out what Scorpius had done?" Harry asked.

"That's a funny story." Hermione smirked at the memories Harry's question had triggered. "Draco had been out drinking with Blaise one night and the following morning he had a hangover so he went to take a hangover potion. Except it wasn't a hangover potion, it was a hair removal potion. One swig of this potion and Draco lost all the hair on his body, apart from his head and eyebrows."

"All of it?" Harry asked, his mind immediately turning to certain parts of the body with hair.

"All of it," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "As I said apart from the hair on his head and his eyebrows, he was hair free. And I can assure you it's a bloody painful potion. I bought it thinking it would save me some time waxing or shaving my legs, but I would rather wax or shave than use that thing. It was really painful, especially in certain areas, and from the curses coming from Draco it was as painful for him as it was for me."

"Ouch," Harry laughed, tears falling from his eyes as he pictured the scene.

"Anyway, after that incident we knew something was wrong with the labelling of the bottles," Hermione said. "Once we realised they'd all been switched, we realised I hadn't been taking my contraceptive potion and sure enough a few days without it and I was pregnant."

"Damn, Malfoy must be fertile," Harry chuckled.

"Says the man with three kids," Hermione laughed. "You're not too bad in that department yourself."

Harry grinned proudly, but before he could say anything they heard Lily calling Hermione's name. Looking up, Hermione spotted the young redheaded witch standing at the door of the boutique, waving her over.

"Looks like I'm needed," Hermione said as she stood up. "I'm pleased we've talked Harry, and you're right. I think we can still salvage something of our friendship. Things won't ever be the same, but I think we can move on and start afresh."

"I'd like that," Harry smiled.

Hermione smiled back at Harry before darting over the street and heading into the bridal boutique. Once in the boutique she discovered that both Lyra and Rose had their bridesmaid's dresses sorted and they'd also both got all the accessories they needed. Lily also had all her accessories and once she'd showed them to Hermione and got her opinion she headed off to pay for everything.

With dresses and everything sorted, and the fittings booked for the week before the wedding, the group exited the bridal boutique. Lyra said goodbye to Lily and her mother before disappearing off to see her friends while Hermione also said her goodbyes before heading off to visit the museum. She was then planning on heading back to the manor where she would spend the rest of the day curled up with Draco.


	12. Chapter 12

In the gardens of Malfoy Manor, Hermione checked everything was sorted for the barbecue. Lily's family would be arriving any minute and Scorpius and Lily were inside the manor waiting to greet them. The rest of the family were already outside, but Hermione wanted to be sure everything was in place. Satisfied they had enough drinks and enough of a selection, Hermione turned her attention to the food and the enchanted barbecue grill. When it was time to eat the barbecue was enchanted to cook the food, and it was then magically transferred to the platters on the table that kept the food warm.

Hermione had decided to go with an enchanted barbecue because the one and only time they'd tried to do it the muggle way things had gone badly. Years ago Hermione had suggested the idea of a barbecue and Draco and Blaise had been insistent they could handle everything and it would be fine to do it the muggle way. However between the pair of them they had burnt all the food and started a mini fire, and as a side result the pair had turned the air blue with their colourful language. That would have been bad enough but Scorpius and Alex were five at the time and they immediately started repeating every bad word their fathers had yelled. It had taken Hermione and Daphne hours to convince the boys that they were never to say the bad words again. After that incident, Hermione had banned muggle style barbecues and instead they'd enchanted the barbecue ever since.

"Stop fussing and have a drink," Draco told his wife, coming up behind her and handing her a glass of wine. "Relax and have some fun, Hermione."

"But what if this afternoon doesn't go well?" Hermione bit her lower lip nervously. "Scorpius really wants Lily's family to give him a chance. What happens if they don't?"

"We can't force them to accept Scorpius," Draco said ruefully. "All we can do is hope they give him a chance. But worrying isn't going to help matters."

"You're right," Hermione nodded. "I need to just relax and see what happens over the course of the afternoon."

"Let's start by going to sit with Daphne and Blaise," Draco suggested. Putting his arm around his wife's shoulder he led them over to where their best friends were sitting at one of the many garden tables that had been scattered across the back garden.

Hermione joined her friends, but she kept an eye on the back door for any signs of Lily's family. The first people to arrive were Lily's parents and brothers. The second they stepped outside, Lyra waved James and Albus over to where she and Alex were lying sprawled on a throw. Grabbing drinks, James and Albus joined the couple on the throw and soon the foursome were laughing about something or other. Harry and Ginny also picked up a drink and made their way over to where the group were sitting.

"Can we join you?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Hermione said with a smile, pleased things still seemed okay between her and Harry after their talk. Now certain things were out in the open, she was hoping things would be easier for everyone.

"Your sons seem to be getting along great with Alex and Lyra," Daphne remarked. At the first meeting she'd been worried that her son had been a bit frosty towards the two Potter boys, but things looked to be fine now.

"I think it was that weekend at the hotel that did it," Ginny said. "Both James and Albus had a great time."

As the three couples made small talk, a few more of Lily's family began to emerge from the Manor. Molly and Arthur arrived with Percy, his wife Audrey and their two daughters, Molly and Lucy. Molly briefly waved at Ginny, but none of the group ventured over to see them. Instead they spoke polity to Lucius and Narcissa, who were sitting near the top of the garden, before sitting down at one of the tables.

"Which brother is that?" Blaise asked Ginny. He knew Ginny had a lot of brothers, but apart from Ron he wouldn't be able to tell one from another.

"That's Percy," Ginny said. "Don't be offended if he doesn't say much, he's not the most sociable of people. His wife, Audrey, is much chattier."

As Ginny was promising to tell Blaise which of her brothers were which, another group emerged from the Manor. This group was headed up by Charlie, who'd came over for the weekend to meet his niece's future husband, along with George and Angelina. Also with them was Fred and Roxanne, George and Angelina's two children.

"Hermione!" George cried at the top of his voice as he took off across the lawn.

Hermione stood up to greet George and was pulled into a fierce hug by the redhead. As they were hugging, Hermione spotted an amused looking Charlie and Angelina making their way over to them while Fred and Roxanne had gone to join their cousins and meet Lyra and Alex.

"It's nice to see you, George," Hermione smiled as the redhead finally let her go. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," George said. "We really should have tried harder to stay in touch."

"We should," Hermione agreed. "But we've got no excuse in future, we'll be family in a few weeks. And speaking of which, I should properly introduce you to Draco."

While Hermione was introducing Draco to George, Charlie and Angelina, a few more Weasleys arrived. Bill and Fleur arrived with Dominque and Louis, while Victoire and Teddy arrived with their baby daughter. Ginny and Harry wandered off to speak to some of their family as George, Angelina and Charlie settled down to catch up with Hermione and get to know Draco better.

George and Charlie instantly hit it off with Draco and Blaise, while Angelina had no problems with befriending Hermione and Daphne. As the group laughed and talked together, Hermione spotted the final members of Lily's family exiting the Manor. Neither Ron nor Lavender looked happy to be at the Manor, and Rose's surly expression wasn't much better. The only one smiling was Hugo, and as soon as he spotted his other cousins he headed off to join them.

When Scorpius and Lily entered the back garden, Hermione watched as Harry wandered over to Scorpius and the two wizards wandered off to sit down together. Lily meanwhile flitted between various members of her family, before going to join Alex, Lyra and the majority of her cousins.

Satisfied that everything seemed to be going well, Hermione turned her attention back to the table. When she found Angelina and Daphne in deep conversation about their kids and the four wizards at the table talking quidditch, Hermione excused herself and went off to talk to a few more of the Weasley's that she hadn't seen for years.

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By the time they'd greeted all of Lily's family, Scorpius was in desperate need of a break. While the majority of the family had been pleasant and welcoming, there had been a few people that barely acknowledged his existence. However Scorpius was hopeful that the majority of Lily's family would make an effort with him and his family over the course of the afternoon.

"Are you ready to have fun?" Lily questioned with a cheeky smile.

"I doubt much fun will be had outside," Scorpius replied. "Now if we were sneaking off upstairs, it might be a different matter."

"There'll be no sneaking off today," Lily told her fiancé. "Today is all about getting you better acquainted with my family."

"Can I not just get better acquainted to the ones that seem friendly?" Scorpius asked hopefully.

"You can start with them," Lily said as she took hold of Scorpius's hand and began to lead him down the short corridor that led to the back exit of the Manor.

Almost as soon as they emerged from the manor, Harry approached and asked Scorpius if they could have a talk. Scorpius was rather taken aback by Harry's approach as so far Lily's father had pretty much ignored him. However he wanted to get on with his in-law's so he willingly grabbed a drink and accompanied Harry to a nearby table that wasn't in use.

"I would like to apologise," Harry began, startling Scorpius with his apology. "Since meeting you, I've never really give you a chance. I judged you based on the fact I disliked your father in school and that's not fair. I can see you're nothing like your father."

"In all due respect, I'm very much like my father," Scorpius said. "However I do accept the version of my father you knew wasn't a very nice person. But he's not like that anymore, he's a changed man and I'm very proud to be so much like him."

"I can see he's no longer the same person I knew," Harry admitted. "But I'm hoping these past few weeks won't affect things between us. You're soon going to be my son-in-law and I don't want there to be difficulties between us."

"Neither do I," Scorpius said. "I want to get along with Lily's family. I know how much you all mean to her and I don't want her to feel caught in the middle of us all."

"In that case, what do you say to us starting again?" Harry offered his hand to Scorpius. "I'm pleased to meet you Scorpius."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Potter," Scorpius replied, shaking the older man's hand.

"Call me Harry," Harry smiled at the blond wizard. "Now since you're marrying my daughter, I think it's time I got to know a bit more about you. I would also quite like to know what yours and Lily's plans are for once you're married. Do you plan on buying a house together?"

"Not straight away," Scorpius answered. "Once we return from honeymoon we'll just be using my penthouse. Lily wants to get the restaurant up and running before we think about moving."

"Quite sensible," Harry nodded approvingly. "Moving and setting up a business are big things to be doing, so it makes sense to do one before you do the other."

Pleased Harry was approving of their plans, Scorpius carried on talking to his future father-in-law. The longer they were talking the better they were getting along and the easier their conversation flowed.

A short distance away, Lily watched her father and fiancé with a smile on her face. Finally it would appear as though her father was accepting things and making an effort with Scorpius. Confident Scorpius and Harry were getting along just fine, Lily made her way over to where Alex and Lyra were sitting with her brothers and a good selection of her cousins. Lily was happy to notice that everyone was getting along and the group was howling in laughter at some risqué tale Alex was telling. Lily had no sooner sat down with the group than Rose came wandering over and plonked herself next to Lily.

"Who's the sex god telling stories?" Rose asked Lily, licking her lips as she looked Alex up and down.

"That's Alex," Lily replied. "He's Scorp's best friend. He's also Lyra's boyfriend, so keep your hands to yourself."

"As if I would go after another girl's boyfriend," Rose protested with mock innocence. "Even if his girlfriend does happen to be an uppity bitch."

"Watch your tongue Rose, that's my best friend you're talking about," Lily warned, glaring menacingly at her cousin.

"It's true," Rose replied as she stood up. "She might be your friend, but she's a stuck up cow. Typical of Malfoys really since her mother isn't any better."

Before Lily had a chance to reply, Hermione announced the barbecue was going on and food would be available shortly. During Hermione's announcement, Rose slipped away from Lily and settled herself at a table with her mother and grandmother. Lily glared over at Rose, knowing she'd picked the table as she knew Lily wouldn't cause a scene in front of Molly and Lavender.

"Come on, let's go and get some food," Lyra said to Lily, dragging her attention away from Rose.

Forgetting about Rose and her nasty comments, Lily headed off to grab some food with Lyra and the others. While most of her cousins headed back off to lounge on the grass, Lily settled at a table with Lyra. Before long the two witches were joined by Scorpius and Alex, Lily's parents and Scorpius's parents.

"How are things going?" Hermione asked.

"It's a great afternoon. Thank you for inviting us all," Ginny said with a smile. "It's nice to see everyone together and having fun."

"We just want to get along," Hermione said.

"We all do," Harry said, genuinely meaning it. Now he'd accepted Lily was going to marry a Malfoy, he just wanted to put the past behind them and start afresh.

As they ate the group chatted about the wedding as a few more people joined them. Before long Narcissa and Lucius and Blaise and Daphne had joined the group along with Molly, Arthur and all of Ginny's brothers and their wives. Lily noticed that Rose didn't join them, instead she headed off to sit with Victoire and the baby.

"Have you decided where you're going on honeymoon yet?" Angelina asked.

"We went to a lovely hotel in the Caribbean for our honeymoon. I could give you the address if you want," Ginny offered.

"Thanks Mum, but we're already sorted," Lily said. "We're heading to a private island in the Seychelles."

"A private island, won't that be expensive?" Molly asked. "You don't want to be spending all your money on a honeymoon when you're trying to set up a business."

"It's not costing us anything, it's a Malfoy property," Scorpius explained. "We own the entire island."

"Nice," Charlie whistled lowly. "I wish I owned an island."

"Don't we all," George laughed. "Think of the fun you could have on a private island."

"A private island is definitely fun," Lucius smirked. "No restrictions is very appealing."

"Never mind the no restrictions, you just like the no clothes part," Narcissa said to her husband.

"To be fair, who wouldn't?" Draco laughed. "That's the beauty of these private islands, you don't need to pack much. Scorpius and Lily will just be able to chuck a few things in a bag and head off for a couple of weeks of naked fun."

While a few of the Weasleys shook their heads disapprovingly at Draco, Charlie and George both laughed along with everyone else.

"Do you let family visit these islands?" George asked. "Because I'm sure as Lily's favourite uncle, I can spare a few weeks to take Ange on holiday."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Draco told George. He already liked the redhead and had no problems with letting him and his wife use one of their islands for a holiday.

"Excellent," George grinned. "Nice work Lily, you've picked the perfect family to marry into."

"That's a matter of opinion," Ron grumbled as he stood up and stalked off to sit at an empty table.

"Sorry about Ron," Lavender muttered as she turned red. While the Malfoys weren't her favourite people she still wasn't happy about being embarrassed in front of them. "I'll go and talk to him."

"I'll go," Harry offered, jumping up.

As Harry went off to see what was bothering Ron, the group slowly began to dissolve as they grabbed more food and spread out across the vast garden. By the time Harry sat down next to Ron only Molly, Arthur and Lavender were still sitting at the table he'd just vacated.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry asked.

"This." Ron gestured around the garden where his entire family were happily conversing with various Malfoys. "We were supposed to be stopping this, not encouraging it."

"Lily's happiness comes first," Harry explained. "I wasn't happy about her choice of partner at first, but I can now see that Scorpius makes her happy. All I want is for my little girl to be happy. Surely you can understand that."

"I can," Ron sighed. "I just don't feel comfortable around this family. Look at how much they've changed Hermione, and Lily's also very different."

"How do you mean?" Harry asked as he immediately started looking for his daughter. He found Lily lying on the large throw, her head resting in Scorpius's lap as he ran his fingers through her hair. Personally the only change Harry had noticed in his daughter was how happy she was.

"All this talk of sex," Ron hissed. "Just now when Malfoy mentioned going on holiday and been naked, Hermione didn't bat an eyelid. When we knew her she would have blushed bright red at the thought."

"People grow up Ron," Harry said. "We knew Hermione when she was an innocent schoolgirl, she's now an experienced happily married woman."

"She's certainly not innocent anymore," Ron snorted. "Just look at her now."

Harry looked over to where Ron was gesturing and found Hermione was sitting on Draco's lap. The pair had their heads close together and were whispering about something, but every few minutes their lips would touch as they shared a quick kiss. While all that was fairly innocent, Harry suspected Ron was referring to the fact Draco's hand kept disappearing underneath Hermione's skirt and one of Hermione's hands looked to be in between her and Draco, although from this angle they couldn't see what she was doing with it.

"Look at them, all over each other in public," Ron complained. "And Malfoy's parents aren't much better. I overheard them earlier talking about making use of the large throw once everyone had left. They were just blatantly talking about it in public, not at all concerned with who heard them planning their smutty little adventures."

"I'm still not sure what the problem is," Harry said cautiously, not wanting to upset his friend. "I admit they're a lot more open about certain things than I'm entirely comfortable with, but they all seem to genuinely care about Lily and to be honest that's all I'm bothered about."

"I'm jealous, all right," Ron confessed in a low voice. "I'm jealous that the bloody Malfoys are having more sex than me. Hermione and Malfoy are all over each other all the time, and now bloody Lucius and Narcissa are getting frisky. I can't remember the last time Lavender and I had sex outside of the bedroom. I'm not sure I can even remember the last time we had sex."

"These Malfoys do seem highly sexed," Harry admitted. "But to be fair, none of them have kids at home spoiling the mood. You have both Hugo and Rose at home and we still have Albus. It's hard to get intimate when your grown children are hanging around the place."

"Surely Hermione and Malfoy have their daughter at home with them," Ron said. "And let's be honest Malfoy's parents should be past it by now."

"I don't think there's an age limit on sex," Harry chuckled quietly. "And as for Lyra, I don't think she lives at home. I'm not sure but from what Lily's said I get the impression she has a place of her own."

"It's still not fair," Ron pouted. "Why do they get to have all the good sex?"

Laughing to himself and shaking his head, Harry left Ron to mope about his lack of sex life. Making his way across the lawn he sat down next to Ginny and reassured her that Ron was okay and he wasn't going to cause any trouble.

While Ron may not have been out to cause trouble the same couldn't be said for his daughter. Ever since Rose had discovered that Scorpius' hot best friend happened to be Lyra's boyfriend, she was determined to cause trouble for the other witch. Whenever she'd had the opportunity she flirted with Alex, but when Lily and Lyra headed indoors to use the bathroom, Rose pounced. Cornering Alex, she flirted outrageously with the dark haired wizard and flashed her assets at him in her low cut top. Alex of course didn't respond to Rose's charms, but that didn't bother her in the slightest, all she wanted was to wind Lyra up.

When Lily and Lyra returned from the bathroom, Lily immediately knew there was going to be trouble. The second her best friend laid eyes on Rose fawning all over Alex, her grey eyes flashed dangerously and she stalked over to the pair.

"Get your grubby paws off my boyfriend," Lyra called loudly as she roughly yanked Rose away from Alex.

"I'm sorry, is he yours?" Rose asked innocently. "I had no idea, and he was more than happy to flirt back."

"In your dreams," Alex snorted.

"Keep your hands to yourself," Lyra warned Rose in a menacing voice. "Alex is mine, and if I catch you flaunting your below average tits at him again, you'll regret it."

"I am not below average," Rose huffed, looking down to where her breasts were almost spilling out of her top since she'd pulled it right down to try and grab Alex's attention.

"You're hardly top class," Lyra sneered. "I would say you're nothing but a cheap tramp, coming onto someone else's boyfriend."

"Maybe he wouldn't need someone to flirt with him if he wasn't dating such an ice queen," Rose retorted. "He must get frostbite shagging you."

"That's enough," Lily yelled, stepping in between the two witches just as Lyra drew her wand.

"Yes, that's more than enough," Narcissa said as she stepped forward. "Both of you apologise, and go your separate ways."

"You can't force my daughter to apologise," Lavender fumed. "Especially as it was your granddaughter who started the entire thing."

"I beg to differ on who started it, but I'm finishing it," Narcissa said. "If your daughter doesn't want to apologise, then she's free to leave. I don't want to cause problems, but I will not stand for cat fights at the manor."

"Sorry Gran," Lyra apologised as she put her wand away. "Sorry Rose," She added through gritted teeth as her grandmother gave her a pointed look.

"Sorry," Rose muttered, before turning and stalking away.

After the fireworks with Lyra and Rose, the afternoon continued without incident, even though Ron, Lavender and Rose all made an early exit. Once everyone had gone home, Hermione spoke to Scorpius and checked things had gone okay for him. Scorpius was more than happy with how things had gone as for the first time he really felt as though Lily's family were starting to accept him, and that was what the afternoon had been about after all.


	13. Chapter 13

With the wedding drawing closer, Draco decided that his wife needed a break. While Hermione never minded helping Lily with her wedding plans, Draco knew it was tough on her to see the Weasleys so often. Apart from Harry, the others who'd abandoned her hadn't really bothered clearing the air. That meant whenever Hermione was around Ron, Ginny or any of the other Weasleys that had shunned her, her old memories kept resurfacing.

In the upcoming weeks they had the stag and hen nights to get through and then of course there was the wedding weekend, so Draco decided that a bit of relaxation was in order. Talking to Daphne, he persuaded her to take Hermione out for the day. He'd left the specifics of the day to Daphne, but he'd put emphasis on helping Hermione relax, so he knew Daphne would make sure she had a whole day away from wedding plans and Weasleys.

While Hermione was out during the day, Draco arranged for a romantic meal to be made and served in their room once she returned. By eating in their bedroom, they could then spend the rest of the evening relaxing in whatever way his wife fancied. Obviously Draco was hoping sex would be on the menu of evening activities, but he was leaving all decisions of that nature to his wife.

After speaking to the elves down in the kitchens, Draco decided to head into the library to see if he could find a good book to read. As far as he knew everyone else was out for the day. Lucius had gone into the office, Lily and Lyra were off doing wedding planning, Narcissa had gone shopping with some friends and Scorpius had disappeared that morning with Alex. Since he thought everyone was out, Draco got rather a shock when he found his son sitting at one of the desks in the library, parchment littering the desktop and his blond head held in his arms.

"Scorpius?" Draco placed a gentle hand on his son's shoulder, unsure if there was anything seriously wrong with his eldest child.

"Hey." Scorpius looked up and smiled at his father.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked as he slid into the seat beside his son.

"Wedding vows," Scorpius answered, gesturing to the parchment strewn all over the desk top.

"Ah, I see," Draco chuckled, suddenly understanding his son's problem. Writing his wedding vows had been the hardest thing involved in getting married to Hermione, and even now he still wasn't sure he'd done what he felt for her justice in the words he'd managed to write.

"How did you do it?" Scorpius pleaded. "How do I do this without sounding like an idiot?"

"I'm not sure you do," Draco admitted. "I couldn't find any way to write my vows without sounding like a bloody lovesick moron."

"I can't imagine you as a lovesick moron," Scorpius smirked. While he'd always known how much his father loved his mother, him and Lyra, Draco had never been one to be overly expressive with his emotions.

"Weddings tend to do that to people," Draco said wisely.

"But how exactly did you do it?" Scorpius asked. "How did you write down what Mum meant to you? I mean I love Lily, but I have no clue how to write that as vows. I hardly think saying I love her will suffice."

"I struggled for weeks with my vows," Draco told his son. "I had no idea how to express what I felt for your mother. I looked through books for ideas, but all of them seemed too over the top and dramatic."

"So what did you do?" Scorpius pressed.

"One night when I couldn't sleep I just lay watching your mother, and I thought of all the ways she changed my life. I thought about what my life was like before her, and what it was like once she was in it," Draco replied. "I got enough from that to cobble some mush together."

"But it's not the same for me," Scorpius sighed. "Before Mum things were different for you, but it's not as if I had an experience like that. I was just an ordinary wizard, until Lily walked into my life and I fell in love."

"I know," Draco nodded. "Your Mum changed my entire life, and that was the big inspiration when I wrote my vows. I think you're just going to have to write down what Lily means to you and what you'd do for her. I'm sure she'll love whatever you come up with as long as it comes from the heart."

"But what if I can't?" Scorpius asked, running his hand through his platinum blond hair. "What if I can't turn my feelings into words?"

"Luckily you're not me," Draco replied with a rueful smile. "You've got more than enough of your mother in you that expressing your emotions comes significantly easier to you than it ever has to me. Write down all your feelings for Lily, and then try to sort them into some semblance of order."

"And what if I write my vows, but can't say them?" Scorpius asked, voicing his other worry. "It's one thing telling Lily I love her, or admitting in to my family. But can I really stand up in front of all those people and pour my heart out?"

"And you think that was easy for me?" Draco raised an eyebrow at his son. "I was a mess before I had to say my vows. I was terrified in case I opened my mouth and nothing came out."

"How did you do it?"

"I looked at your mother and pretended we were alone." Draco paused and smiled at the memory. "I forgot all about everyone watching, and I poured my heart out to Hermione."

"I can do that," Scorpius said confidently. "I can tell Lily how I feel about her."

"That's all you need to do," Draco said. "Just think about Lily, and you'll be okay."

"Thanks Dad," Scorpius smiled.

"I'm not sure I've done anything," Draco replied as he stood up. To be honest he doubted he'd helped Scorpius at all.

"You have, you've given me the confidence to know I'll find something to say," Scorpius told his father.

"As long as I've been a help. While we're on do you need any more advice?"

"Nope, I think that's it."

"No honeymoon tips?" Draco smirked. "Now that was something I had no problem with."

"I bet it wasn't," Scorpius laughed. "And no, I don't need tips in that department. Lily and I are great in that department."

"Good," Draco nodded. "I'll leave you to it. Good luck."

Leaving Scorpius to continue working on his vows, Draco left the library without bothering to find a book. Instead he settled for making sure everything was ready for Hermione's return. While the elves had dinner sorted, Draco made sure the bedroom was in perfect order. Calling for one of the elves that did the housework he asked if they could strip the bed and have it made fresh. With the bed sorted, Draco then arranged for a small table to be set up in front of the window.

While the bed was being made and the romantic table set up, Draco headed into the bathroom where he began to get ready for his wife's return. After having a long shower, Draco returned to the bedroom where he got dressed in a pair of black trousers and a dark green shirt. Checking the time he decided he had a while to kill before Hermione returned so he plucked a book from one of the shelves in the room and sat down to read for a bit.

After an hour, Draco put the book down and made the finishing touches to the room. Lighting the candle that stood in the centre of the table, he then summoned a few more candles from around the house and placed them strategically around the room. Once all the candles were lit, he dimmed the lights, leaving the bedroom with a romantic glow.

Shortly after Draco had gotten everything in place the door to the bedroom opened and Hermione walked into the room. Pausing in the doorway, Hermione looked around at the romantic scene in the room.

"What's all this for?" She asked. While Draco wasn't opposed to being romantic, he rarely made big gestures like the one she'd just walked into without a good reason.

"I just thought a bit a romance might help you unwind," Draco replied. "Of course, if you don't like it I can get rid of the candles and we can have dinner downstairs with the rest of the family."

"I love it," Hermione smiled, shutting the door behind her and walking over to where Draco stood in the candlelight. "Thank you Draco, it's just what I need."

"Dinner won't be ready for another hour, but I'm sure we can find something to do," Draco said to his wife as he wrapped her in his arms.

"I'm sure we can," Hermione smiled as she leant up and gently brushed her lips over Draco's.

The couple shared a tender kiss before they separated and Draco led Hermione over to the fire. Magically lighting the fire, the couple snuggled on the sofa in front of the flames. Because it was summer and quite warm a charm kept the room from heating up with the fire blazing away, but that didn't distract from the romantic atmosphere.

"This reminds me of Switzerland," Hermione remarked. "Can you remember that week we spent huddled up in the cabin?"

"How can I forget, we'd only been there one night and we ended up snowed in," Draco laughed. "We were supposed to be skiing that week."

"If I remember correctly we found other ways to remain active," Hermione retorted with a smirk. Even though they'd been stuck in a cabin in the middle of a severe snowstorm they'd still spent the majority of their time without clothes.

Talking of their trip to Switzerland led to more reminiscing and the couple easily passed the time until dinner by talking about their past and all the great memories they had. When dinner appeared on the table, Draco and Hermione relocated to beside the window and their conversation drifted back to the present.

"I'm looking forward to going home in a few weeks," Draco confessed.

"Are you not enjoying your holiday?" Hermione asked.

"This isn't a holiday," Draco retorted. "We're here to support Scorpius and Lily in the run up to their wedding. And while it's being great to spend some time with my parents, I miss home."

"So do I," Hermione admitted.

She actually loved Malfoy Manor and never minded visiting Lucius and Narcissa, but she'd never actually been away from home for so long. In fact the whole trip had just made her realise just how much she loved France. England was no longer her home, France was and she couldn't wait to get back.

"I miss work as well," Draco continued. "I know I've been into the office in London, but it's not the same. I feel like a child visiting Father at work."

"I miss the museum," Hermione said. "Visiting to deal with a crisis isn't the same as actually being there."

"We're terrible," Draco laughed. "We should be enjoying the break, and all we're doing is missing home."

"As you pointed out, we're not actually on holiday," Hermione said. "If we'd just popped over for a visit or were spending a couple of months on a tropical island, we wouldn't miss home as much."

"Do you think we should have just stayed at home and commuted to help with the wedding plans?" Draco asked.

"I'm not sure that would have been practical," Hermione replied. "Besides I think both Scorp and Lily have appreciated having us nearby."

Thinking back to the conversation he'd had earlier that day with his son, Draco nodded in agreement. If they'd just been commuting from France, he wouldn't have seen Scorpius struggling with his vows and he wouldn't have been able to offer his limited words of wisdom to his son. Then there were a dozen or so other times when he and Hermione had been needed for wedding plans and it wouldn't have been possible for them to always be available if they'd been in France.

Dinner was finished as the couple talked about the upcoming wedding. Once they'd finished dessert, Hermione walked over to the drawers beside the bed and pulled out a bag from a shopping trip earlier that week.

"What's in the bag?" Draco questioned as he magically cleared the table.

"A surprise," Hermione grinned as she headed off to the bedroom. "Why don't you get into something a bit more comfortable, I'll be back in a bit."

Blowing Draco a kiss, Hermione disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Grinning at what was to come, Draco pulled off his clothes. Since he hadn't bothered to put underwear on when he'd dressed, he pulled a pair of grey pyjama bottoms from his drawer and pulled them on. He then settled on the bed as he waited for Hermione to emerge from the bathroom.

When Hermione did re-enter the room, Draco's mouth dropped open at the sight of his very sexy wife. Hermione was wearing a see through red negligée and a pair of tiny knickers. Her brunette hair was cascading loosely down her back and her face was freshly scrubbed, making her look significantly younger than her age.

"Do you like?" Hermione asked as she walked towards the bed.

"I like," Draco confirmed, his eyes glued to his wife's breasts that were completely visible under her negligée.

Climbing onto the bed next to her husband, Hermione settled down next to Draco. Another night she would have ripped Draco's bottoms off and got down to action immediately, but Hermione wanted to take her time and enjoy the evening. Without having to be told, Draco knew exactly what his wife wanted and he was more than happy to oblige.

Lying facing each other, Draco tucked an unruly strand of hair behind Hermione's ear. He then slowly ran his finger down her cheek, towards her lips. Tracing her lips with his finger, he leant over and replaced his finger with his own lips. Hermione hummed contentedly into the kiss as she gently pressed herself closer to her husband.

For a long time, Hermione and Draco were content to just exchange sweet and soft kisses. However things never remained too innocent for long between them and both of their hands soon began to wander. Draco's hands started on Hermione's leg, before gradually creeping up underneath her negligée. After feeling around her scantily clad backside for a few minutes, Draco's hand moved up his wife's firm stomach towards her breasts. While Draco's hand was moving up Hermione's body, her hand was moving down her husband's. After starting out tracing the muscles in her husband's torso, Hermione inched her hand down to toy with the top of his pyjama bottoms. Eventually her hand slid under the thin material, eager to explore more of her husband.

"I think it's time we got naked," Hermione purred in her husband's ear as her hands stroked at his hardening member.

"Anything for my lovely wife," Draco grinned.

Reluctantly removing his hand from Hermione's warm flesh, he pulled off his pyjama bottoms and discarded them over the side of the bed. He then turned to his wife, who had sat up, and pulled her red negligée off and tossed it onto the floor with his pyjama bottoms.

"Now for the fun part," He smirked at Hermione.

Settling Hermione back on the bed, Draco proceeded to kiss his way down his wife's body until he reached the tiny knickers she was wearing. Ever so slowly he peeled the knickers off his wife and threw them over his shoulder. Looking down at his naked wife, a satisfied smile appeared on Draco's face.

"I love you when you're naked," Draco confessed.

"The feeling is entirely mutual," Hermione grinned, licking her lips at the sight of a fully aroused Draco. "Now come back here so we can make the most of both being naked."

Not needing to be told twice, Draco settled his body over his wife's and joined their lips in a heated kiss. Barely able to tear their lips away from each other, the couple effortlessly altered position on the bed, enabling Draco to slide into Hermione with ease. The action drew a low moan from the pair and they finally parted to look at one another.

"I love you, Hermione," Draco told his wife.

"I love you too, Draco," Hermione replied, smiling up at Draco before she leant up and reconnected their lips.

Slowly and steadily the couple began to move together in perfect harmony. Their lovemaking consisted of hands gently stroking and caressing each other, and when their lips weren't glued together they were trailing over each other's skin. Languidly the couple moved together as their orgasms built inside them. In perfect sync the pair's movements became more frenetic as the heat between them continued to build. When they finally went over the edge it was together, both releasing simultaneous cries of ecstasy.

The pair remained joined as they recovered, and once they'd fully recovered from their first orgasm of the night they set about having a few more before the night ended and they curled up in bed together to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

"Tonight is going to be so much fun," Lyra vowed to Lily as the two witches got ready for the redhead's hen night.

Since Lily hadn't had any close friends in Hogwarts, the hen party mainly consisted of her family and Scorpius's. All of Lily's aunts would be in attendance, along with all of her female cousins. In fact the only female member of her family not present would be Molly, who along with Arthur, had volunteered to babysit for Victoire and Teddy so they could both go out and enjoy the stag and hen parties. As for the Malfoys, both Hermione and Narcissa would be present and Daphne was also coming along. Scorpius's stag night was pretty much the same deal, with Lily's family making up the majority of the group and Scorpius's family making up the numbers.

"What do you have in store for me?" Lily questioned as Lyra settled a bridal veil on her head and secured it was a tiara.

"Nothing too bad," Lyra smirked. "You'll enjoy yourself, I promise."

"I just hope the boys behave themselves," Lily muttered. "I'll kill Alex if anything happens to Scorpius a week before the wedding."

"Relax, Alex has everything under control," Lyra vowed as the girls picked up their bags and checked they had everything.

Satisfied everything was in order they headed downstairs where Hermione, Narcissa and Daphne were waiting. All three women looked years younger than they really were and Lily joked that Hermione would be mistaken for Lyra's sister.

"I wish," Hermione laughed.

"I just hope I look as good when I'm your age," Lyra told her mother. Both her parents and her grandparents looked pretty youthful, so she was hoping the good genes would pass her way and she would look as good as Hermione when she was older.

"What's your secret?" Lily asked.

"Sex," Hermione replied with a wicked grin. "Plenty of good sex, it keeps you young."

"I agree," Narcissa added. "The moment your sex life dries up is the moment you start to feel old."

"How would you know that?" Daphne asked Narcissa. "Your sex life hasn't dried up. You and Lucius are still at it like teenagers."

"That may be going a bit far," Narcissa chuckled. "We are starting to slow down these days."

"And as fun as it is hearing about my grandparent's sex lives, we should be going," Lyra interrupted before Narcissa revealed too much. "We need to meet the others at the restaurant."

Lily's hen night was starting out with a meal at Angelo's, an Italian restaurant located in wizarding London. The restaurant was located in a spectacular tower block that housed all sorts of luxury wizarding businesses. Lyra had booked the table, and that was where they were meeting Lily's family.

One by one the witches flooed to their destination in London. Upon arrival, Lily spoke to the manager and they were escorted to a private section of the restaurant. The private section of the restaurant was on the top floor of the three stories Angelo's occupied. The floor in question offered spectacular views from the glass walls, and everyone was suitably impressed.

"Are we the only ones dining here?" Lily asked when she spotted there was just one long table in the room.

"Yes," Lyra nodded. "I booked the whole room so we would have some privacy."

"Thanks Lyra, this place looks amazing," Lily said, walking over to a nearby window to admire the views as they waited for the rest of her family to arrive.

Within ten minutes all of Lily's family had arrived and the celebrations began. Lyra had ensured there was plenty of champagne and other drinks on offer as they settled down to a lovely Italian meal. The group stayed in the restaurant for nearly two hours as they ate, drank and generally had a good time. Even Rose and Lavender, who weren't the most cheerful of people most of the time, had a good time and joined in the light-hearted banter and fun.

"Drink up," Lyra announced after a couple of hours. "It's time we got moving."

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked. "I was enjoying it here."

"We're going to a new club a few miles away," Lyra explained. "I've arranged portkey's to transport us there."

"Clubbing isn't really my thing," Fleur said nervously.

"Nor mine," Audrey agreed. "I'm far too old for stuff like that."

"Don't worry I've got us a private room," Lyra said. "You can stay in the private room all night if you want, you don't have to enter the main part of the club."

"What about drinks and stuff?" Lavender asked. "Won't we have to venture out for those?"

"The private room comes complete with complementary waiter service," Lyra answered with a grin. "Anything you want, you just ask for and it's delivered directly to the room."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Fleur admitted.

"So is everyone coming?" Lyra checked. She doubted anyone would want to leave halfway through the night, but she'd already decided that some of Lily's family could often be a bit boring and straight laced.

Happily no-one wanted to leave so Lyra led a full group down to where the manager of Angelo's was waiting with their portkey's. After complimenting the manager on a great evening and amazing food, Lyra led the way to the club she had booked.

The club was called Cleopatra's, and boasted five separate bars and three dance floors. It was also rumoured to be the hottest new place in London, and Lyra was keen to see if it lived up to Alex's club in Paris.

When they'd all arrived at Cleopatra's, Lyra led the way through some back corridors and up a winding staircase. When they reached the upper level of the club, Lyra spoke to the bouncer in charge of letting people upstairs and showed him her booking validation. Satisfied the group of witch's had booked, the bouncer stamped their hand with a 'C' and pointed them in the direction of their private room.

"What's the stamp for?" Narcissa asked, frowning at the purple initial on her hand. She just hoped it came off and she wasn't stuck with a mark on her skin.

"It's so you can go up and down stairs without the bouncers bothering you," Lyra explained. "Just flash them your hand and they'll know you're a V.I.P and should be up here. And don't worry about the stamp not going away, the second you leave the club the magic in the stamp vanishes and it disappears."

The majority of the group breathed a huge sigh of relief at the news the stamp would vanish without trace as they reached the private room Lyra had booked for them. When they entered the room, they discovered it had a balcony that overlooked the main part of the club. There was also several tables dotted around the room and there was even a bar in the corner, with a barman standing behind. The barman introduced himself as Steve, and let the group know that he was at their service and anything he couldn't provide for them upstairs he would gladly head down to grab it.

"I think we should start with some champagne," Lyra announced, as she walked over to the balcony and adjusted the privacy settings on the room.

While it was impossible for anyone on the ground floor to see into the private room, even when someone was on the balcony, you could adjust the settings in the room itself to cater to your personal preferences. Lyra had no intention of hiding the view of the main part of the club, as she liked looking down at what was going on, but she did want to hear the music that was being played downstairs. Luckily she could adjust the volume so that they had music, but it was nowhere near as loud as it was downstairs.

"So what now?" Rose pouted as she drowned her glass of champagne in one go. "Do we just sit here, or do we come and go as we please?"

"You can do what you want," Lyra answered. "Although I would suggest everyone makes sure they're back in the room in an hour's time. I've got a treat you wouldn't want to miss."

Despite several people pressing Lyra for details, she wouldn't be drawn on what her surprise was. After a few minutes the subject was dropped and people began to settle down and enjoy themselves. Lily and Lyra soon decided to go and check out the main body of the club and almost all of Lily's cousins chose to join them. Ginny, Lily's aunts, Hermione, Narcissa and Daphne all remained up in the private room, although they all ventured out onto the balcony to take a look at what the younger witches were getting up to.

After an hour in the club, all the girls were present as they waited to see what Lyra's surprise was. After checking everything was in place with her surprise, Lyra settled down at a table alongside Lily, Hermione, Narcissa, Daphne and Angelina. Nodding to Steve behind the bar, Lyra smirked as the lights dimmed and the music changed to signal the arrival of her surprise.

"Oh dear Merlin," Lavender gasped at the table next to Lily's when the door to the private room opened and a dark haired wizard entered the room dressed in a quidditch outfit. "Is he a stripper?"

"I would so, yes," Ginny answered her sister in law as the music changed to music suitable for a stripper and the wizard in question began to move in time to the music.

"I can't believe you've done this," Lily said to Lyra as the stripper winked at her as he threw off his cloak.

"It's just a bit of fun." Lyra grinned at her friend.

While a few of Lily's family were clearly unimpressed with the stripper, a lot of the younger girls were clapping and cheering. As the stripper got down to his underwear, Lyra checked to see what her family were thinking of the show. Although she wasn't clapping and cheering Narcissa was watching intently, while Hermione was rolling her eyes at the scantily clad wizard in front of her.

"What's wrong, Mum?" Lyra asked. "Aren't you enjoying the show?"

"Did you not check the stripper before you hired him?" Hermione asked her daughter. "He's not very impressive is he? Your father would be much better to watch. He's got a better body than that bloke and he's definitely got more to offer in the trouser department than the stripper."

"As has Lucius," Narcissa added. "Your grandfather could easily put him to shame."

"So could Scorp," Lily giggled, slightly drunk from all the champagne she'd drunk over the course of the evening.

"Please, I do not need to know that about all my family," Lyra cried.

"I doubt you've got anything to complain about," Hermione chuckled. "If Alex is anything like his father, he could also put the stripper to shame."

"He could," Lyra agreed, before it occurred to her what her mother had just said. "Are you saying you've seen Blaise naked?" She asked her mother.

"Hasn't everyone," Daphne laughed as Hermione nodded her head. "You know Blaise, he isn't shy. It's not the first time he's come downstairs without clothes on when I've had friends over."

"Not to mention all the times we've caught you and Blaise having a bit of fun," Hermione said to her friend.

"You're a fine one to talk," Daphne laughed. "I've lost count of the amount of times we've caught you and Draco in a compromising position."

As Angelina added her views on how the stripper failed to live up to George as well, at the table beside them Ginny and Lavender were sitting listening with their mouths open. They still couldn't get used to how easy Hermione and her family found it to joke about sex and make innuendoes, especially with their children present. Of course they were also slightly perturbed by the idea that the stripper couldn't live up to their husband's sizes. While Ginny was thinking that the stripper was about on par with Harry, Lavender was just thinking how he was better endowed than Ron.

When the stripper finished his routine, he made a hasty exit and the party continued. Like before some of the group remained in the private room, while a lot of the girls ventured down to the main body of the club for a bit of fun, not knowing the fun was coming to them in the form of the stag party.

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"Here we are," Alex announced, leading the stag party into an exclusive gentleman's club in wizarding London.

"Nice," George remarked, looking around the opulently decorated front lounge they'd just entered.

"I've read about this place. Doesn't it cater to purebloods only?" Teddy frowned.

"I should hope not, or else I'll not be welcome," Scorpius chuckled.

"It used to cater for purebloods only, but times change," Lucius replied. "The club now accepts anyone as members as long as they have magic and have completed their wizarding education."

"So what are we doing here?" Ron grumbled. "It's not as if we're all going to join the club."

"We're just here to have fun," Alex explained. "We're going into the casino for the evening."

"Don't we have to be members to get into the casino?" Harry asked. Personally he was surprised they'd all made it into the building as non-members of the club.

"No, you just have to be accompanied by a member," Alex answered. "And tonight we're all here as Lucius's guests."

"Excellent," George grinned. "Let's get going, I've always wanted to visit a casino."

"Before we go, we need chips," Lucius said. "Wait here two minutes."

Lucius disappeared into a door marked members only and when he returned he handed everyone a small blue bag that contained a selection of chips to use in the casino.

"There's a thousand galleons here," James said, counting the contents in the bag.

"I can't afford to lose a thousand galleons. Lavender would kill me." Ron shook his head sadly, he would have loved to visit the casino but he just couldn't risk losing all that money.

"The chips in the bags are already paid for," Lucius explained. "They are yours to do with as you wish. Any winnings are completely yours, but if you want more chips you'll have to pay for them yourselves."

"You're giving us all a thousand galleons each?" Albus questioned in shock.

"We can afford it, so don't worry. Just enjoy yourselves and try to win big," Draco said.

Lily's family all thanked the Malfoys, but they brushed the thanks off as they led the way into the casino. The casino consisted of three joined rooms with dozens of different games to try. Near the entrance to the casino there was a booth where any winning chips could be cashed in for money.

"Play whatever you want, and enjoy," Alex announced. "And feel free to eat and drink what you want, it's all paid for."

At the mention of food and drink the group looked around and their mouths dropped open when they spotted the waitresses standing off to the side of the room. Each waitress was wearing the shortest skirt imaginable and their low cut tops, showed off all their assets.

"I take it you picked the outfits," Scorpius said to Alex, once he'd seen how the waitresses were dressed.

"I didn't actually," Alex admitted. "Can you believe, that's their regular uniform?"

"No wonder Mother isn't keen on you coming here," Draco chuckled to Lucius as the pair headed off to play blackjack with George, Blaise and Charlie.

"I can't believe these witches." Ron whispered to Harry as they grabbed firewhisky's off one waitress and a small plate of snacks off another one. "If they bend over, we'll get a right eyeful."

"I'm hoping they don't," Harry muttered. "Ginny will kill me if she thinks I've been eying up young women."

Ron nodded in agreement, knowing Lavender would do the same to him. However, while Harry was concentrating on the casino games and paying very little attention to the waitresses, Ron could barely keep his eyes to himself. It had been a long time since he'd seen such beautiful scantily clad women and he intended to enjoy himself. After all, Lavender didn't know and it wasn't as if he was going to tell her about the pretty witches he'd been ogling. Besides, Ron was hoping he would be ogling another gorgeous witch later on when the stripper arrived.

"How do you even know there's going to be a stripper?" Harry questioned when Ron mentioned it later on in the evening.

"It's a stag night, there's going to be a stripper," Ron stated confidently. "Besides the Zabini kid has organised the entire thing, and he's a randy little bugger if ever I saw one."

Harry wasn't totally sure there would be a stripper, but he didn't want to burst Ron's bubble so he remained silent. Instead he focused on the casino games, and soon found himself with a healthy amount of chips in his little blue bag.

As the evening carried on the food and drink flowed, as did the laughter and fun. Some people won as their tried their luck on the games, whereas other's lost. However, no-one lost everything and no-one felt the need to get more chips. Instead the evening passed in a whirl of fun and friendly banter.

"Okay people, we're leaving soon so cash in your chips," Alex announced after the group had spent a good few hours in the casino.

"Where are we going?" Scorpius asked his best friend.

"A new club in London," Alex answered. "I've got us a private room."

"Did you hear that?" Ron nudged Harry in the ribs as they queued to get their chips turned into cash. "A private room, that'll be the stripper."

Harry had to admit a private room in a club did allow for more scope for a stripper, whereas the casino hadn't been the place for such a thing. Unfortunately for Ron, his hopes of a stripper didn't materialise as the group arrived at Cleopatra's and headed up to the private room. Ron was still hoping for a stripper when Alex opened the door to the private room and his bubble was well and truly burst when they found Lily's hen night in full swing.

"Surprise," Alex called as he led the stags into the room.

"What are you lot doing here?" Ginny asked, totally stunned to find the stag party bursting in on their evening out.

"We thought it might be fun to end the night together," Lyra explained as she hugged Alex. "We've all had a fun time, but I know I'd rather end the evening with my boyfriend."

"Thanks guys, this is the perfect way to end the evening," Lily grinned at Lyra and Alex as Scorpius swept her up in his arms.

"The evening isn't over yet," Lyra said. "We can still have some fun before we head home. Come on, let's head downstairs."

While a lot of the younger group of witches and wizards headed downstairs, the older wizards grabbed a drink and settled down with their partners. Stories were shared about their evenings and Ron couldn't help but pout when he heard the women had seen a stripper. In his opinion it wasn't fair that the women got to see a stripper, while the men had to make do with the waitresses at the casino.

"So what was this stripper like?" Draco asked Hermione as he pulled his wife onto his knee. "Should I be jealous of you ogling another man's bits?"

"There wasn't much to ogle," Hermione snorted. "Your bits are much more impressive."

"I am hard to beat," Draco grinned cockily.

"I don't know, you had competition," Hermione laughed. "I wasn't the only one underwhelmed with the stripper."

"So who's my competition?" Draco asked.

"There's your father, and Scorpius. Then there's Alex and Blaise, and George," Hermione replied.

"I don't need to dwell on Father and Scorp, but us Malfoys are pretty impressive so it figures Mother and Lily should be happy in that department," Draco replied. "I'm guessing Alex takes after Blaise, and we've all seen what he has to offer. And while I've never seen George naked, I believe Angelina if she says he's impressive since I like the bloke."

"So are you not worried about your competition?" Hermione teased. "Are you not afraid you might not be the most impressive in the room?"

"We can compare if you want," Draco chuckled wickedly. "But as long as you're happy with me, I'm satisfied. You're the only witch I want to impress."

"Consider me impressed," Hermione purred as she wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and gave him a deep kiss.

Across the room, Ron frowned as he watched Hermione all over her husband. His evening had turned out to be a big let-down. While it had started off great and he'd left the casino over a hundred galleons better off, it had gone downhill since they entered the club. As much as he loved his wife, the last thing he wanted to do was spend the evening with her while he was on a stag night. However the worst thing was that no-one else seemed to mind coming together with the women and joining the parties.

Ron was right, and apart from him, everyone else thoroughly enjoyed the joint gathering. Several of the single members of the group managed to find someone who interested them and not everyone left alone. Charlie was one of the first to leave with a witch he'd picked up and Albus followed shortly afterwards. Once Albus informed his parents he wouldn't be home that evening, Harry and Ginny said goodbye to everyone and made a hasty retreat as they headed home to enjoy the peace of an empty house.

Slowly the room began to empty as people headed home, most of whom had more fun and games planned for when they got back to the privacy of their own home. One of the last couples to leave were Lavender and Ron, despite Ron wanting to leave several hours before they finally departed. He had been hoping for a bit of fun with his wife since almost everyone around them seemed frisky and she seemed up for it. However, just before they left Rose slunk back into the room and announced she would join them in going home. As they left with their daughter in tow, Ron cursed his luck. If only they'd left earlier they could have had a bit of fun before Rose came home, but now he knew nothing much would happen with their daughter in residence.


	15. Chapter 15

On the Friday the wedding part were due to descend on his hotel, Blaise was at the hotel first thing on the morning to ensure everything was running smoothly. They actually had a few guests to check out over the course of the morning, before preparations could really get underway for Lily and Scorpius's wedding. While his staff were dealing with the general running of the hotel, Blaise was in the office double checking the rooms were all sorted, starting with the ones he would need that day.

Scorpius and Lily would occupy the honeymoon suite on Sunday night, but until then Blaise had them in one of his top suites. Lyra and Alex were also in one of the top suites, and from what he'd heard on the Saturday night Lyra and Scorpius would swap places so that the engaged couple would spend their final night before marriage in separate beds. Also occupying his other top suites were Draco and Hermione, Lucius and Narcissa, Ginny and Harry and Molly and Arthur. Luckily he had a room specially designed for when he stayed at the hotel so he and Daphne didn't have to worry about booking a room.

While Scorpius and Lily and their immediate family occupied the suites in the hotel, Blaise had assigned Lily's other relatives to various other rooms in the hotel. Apart from Ron and Lavender, who were turning up on the Friday afternoon, the rest of Lily's family weren't due to arrive until the Saturday. Blaise also suspected that Rose would turn up with her parents as she seemed just as nosey as both Ron and Lavender and he suspected she wouldn't want to risk missing out on anything.

Apart from Lily's family, there wasn't many other people staying at the hotel before the wedding. The majority of guests would just turn up on the Sunday for the wedding, although a fair few of them had booked a room for the Sunday night so they could enjoy the wedding and the party afterwards. Luckily there were still a handful of rooms empty in case someone wanted to stay who hadn't previously booked.

Satisfied he hadn't made a mistake and all the rooms were sorted, Blaise left the office and headed to reception. After finding out all the normal guests had checked out, Blaise gathered all his staff together and briefly ran over what was going to happen over the course of the weekend. Happy the staff would make sure the weekend ran smoothly, Blaise returned to reception to wait for people to arrive.

Scorpius, Lily, Lyra and Alex were the first to arrive and Blaise had no sooner sent them up to their rooms when Lily's family arrived. When Blaise spotted Rose was with her parents he had to chuckle to himself. He'd been right and it appeared the young girl couldn't bear to stay away and miss anything.

Finding the room keys, Blaise handed them over and pointed the family in the right direction. Since they had suites, Molly and Arthur and Ginny and Harry had rooms on one of the top floors, while Ron and Lavender and Rose had rooms on a lower floor.

"Why aren't we all on the same floor?" Lavender questioned. "I thought the family would all be together."

"The top floors house the suites," Blaise explained. "Scorpius and Lily, Alex and Lyra and Hermione and Draco are on the top floor, as is the honeymoon suite. Narcissa and Lucius are on the floor below along with Harry and Ginny and Molly and Arthur. That's also where Daphne and I have our room."

"That doesn't explain why we're on the floor below though," Lavender remarked. "Why not use the other rooms on the floors where the rest of the family are staying?"

"There are no more rooms on those floors," Blaise chuckled. "Each of the top floors house three large suites. The top floor also houses the honeymoon suite, while the floor below is where my personal suite is located."

"So what sort of room do we have?" Ron questioned.

"You and your wife are in one of our top rooms," Blaise told Ron.

"But it's not a suite," Lavender pouted.

"I'm afraid not," Blaise replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Lavender and Ron. He couldn't believe that they genuinely thought they were entitled to stay in one of the best rooms when it was only their niece getting married. "We've only got a limited amount of suites, so I chose to put Lily and Scorpius's close family in the suites."

"And what about Lyra?" Rose huffed. "She's no-one special."

"She's Scorpius's sister and chief bridesmaid," Blaise replied. "Plus she's sharing with Alex, who's the best man. Not to mentioned Lyra and Scorpius will be swapping rooms on Saturday night."

"But I'm a bridesmaid," Rose pouted.

"And what about James and Albus?" Ron demanded. "Do they get a suite as Lily's brothers?"

"I've spoken to James and Albus and they're happy to just have a room," Blaise answered. "I'm sorry if you're not happy, but the rooms are all sorted."

"We're quite happy with the rooms," Arthur said, jumping in before Ron and Lavender could cause any more problems. "Thank you very much, Blaise."

Blaise watched in amusement as Molly and Arthur herded their family into the lifts. He was still smirking a few minutes later when Hermione and Draco turned up with Lucius and Narcissa.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked his friend as he sorted the keys for the two couples.

"I've just been dealing with the Weasel and his wife," Blaise answered. "They're not happy that they don't have a suite."

"Poor them," Draco laughed.

"Mind you Rose wasn't much better, demanding to know why Lyra had a suite and she didn't," Blaise said.

"She's a horrid little thing, isn't she?" Narcissa remarked.

"She's a mini Lavender," Hermione said.

"Like Mother said, horrid," Draco quipped.

"Back in school I always said Weasley needed his head testing for going out with Lavender Brown," Blaise said. "Why he married her, is beyond me."

"That would be love," Hermione said. "I may never have liked Lavender, but it was obvious right from the beginning that Ron loved her. I guess you can't help who you fall in love with."

"Of course you can," Blaise snorted. "I dated plenty of witches before Daphne, and I chose not to fall in love with any of them."

"That's because you were already in love with Daphne," Draco pointed out. While it may have taken Blaise a long time to get Daphne to agree to go out with him, his best friend had been in love with Daphne since their teenage years.

"I agree with Hermione, you can't choose who you fall in love with," Narcissa said. "If you could, I never would have fallen in love with Lucius."

"Charming. That's just what a man wants to hear after forty years of marriage," Lucius tutted.

"You know what I meant," Narcissa said to her husband. "You were an older wizard with a reputation as a heartbreaker. No witch in their right mind would have willingly fallen for you since it was destined to lead to heartbreak. Luckily for me, I happened to be the witch that caught your eye and changed your womanising ways."

Lucius seemed content with his wife's answer and taking their key from Blaise they disappeared off to get settled in their suite. After checking what time Daphne was arriving, Draco and Hermione also headed off to their suite, leaving Blaise to have a final chat with his staff now the first part of the wedding party had arrived.

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Once everyone had settled into the hotel for the weekend, the afternoon was filled with wedding preparations. Alex and Lyra headed to the club to check things were in hand there, while Arthur and Molly checked on the family meal that would be taking place the following evening. Lucius and Narcissa were in charge of making sure the ballroom was taking shape for the reception and Scorpius and Draco were out in the garden overseeing the construction of the wedding venue in the grounds of the hotel, with a bit of help from Harry and Ron.

While everyone else was busy checking on the preparations around the hotel the rest of the group were in Hermione and Draco's suite, having a final fitting of the dresses. Even though Lily, Lyra and Rose had all had a fitting at the boutique in France the previous week, Lily still wanted to make sure everything was sorted.

"Have the men sorted their outfits?" Lavender suddenly asked.

"Yes, they went to Draco's tailor a couple of weeks ago," Hermione replied.

"That's a relief," Lavender said. "It only just occurred to me that we've never discussed the men's clothes."

Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes at Lavender and her need to be included in everything. Just because she hadn't been involved in the men's outfits, didn't mean they weren't organised.

"While we're discussing things for the wedding, we should make sure we know everything is sorted," Ginny suggested, sensing Hermione was getting sick of Lavender and her interfering ways.

"Go ahead," Lily told her mother from where she was standing in front of the mirror.

"Flowers," Ginny said, pulling a list from her bag and reading the first thing off it.

"The flowers for the garden and ballroom are arriving tomorrow afternoon. Blaise has a special room where they'll be kept until the Sunday and won't wilt," Lily answered. "As for my bouquet, it's coming on Sunday morning. So are the buttonholes for the men."

Ginny nodded and ticked flowers off her list, before moving on to the next topic. "The rings."

"Scorpius has the rings in the safe in our suite," Lily answered.

Rings hadn't been something that needed to be organised over the last few weeks, as Lily and Scorpius had their rings sorted before they even told her family about the wedding. The couple had seen the perfect rings in Paris a few days before they returned to England, so they'd bought them there and then and had them inscribed by a jeweller trusted by the Malfoy family.

"Have you double checked all your other guests are definitely coming?" Ginny asked. "You don't want someone failing to turn up."

"Yes," Lily nodded. "We've spoken to everyone who's not family last week and they all confirmed they still plan on attending."

"Who exactly is coming to the wedding?" Lavender asked. "Because so far, it just seems to be our family."

"I've invited a few people from Hogwarts and the culinary school," Lily answered as she began to take off her dress again. "Scorpius has also invited a pile of his friends from school and work, and he's invited a few family friends."

"Family friends," Lavender grimaced. "I'm assuming that means Slytherins."

"It does actually, do you have a problem with that?" Hermione asked, glaring at Lavender. She'd always hated the prejudices against Slytherins in school, but it bothered her even more now that the war was long over and she was married to a former Slytherin and her best friends were former Slytherins.

"Who am I to complain if you want Slytherins at the wedding?" Lavender muttered.

Ginny shot her sister-in-law an unamused look, before turning apologetically to Hermione. "Sorry," She mouthed, before speaking at a normal volume. "So who exactly can we expect from the old days?"

"Pansy, Theo and their son are attending, as are Greg, Tracey and their daughter." Hermione answered, mentioning the people she thought her old friends might remember. While there would be other former Slytherins at the wedding, Hermione didn't think they would mean anything to Lily's family.

"I've never heard of a Greg and Tracey," Lavender frowned. "Did we go to school with them?" She could clearly remember Pansy Parkinson and Theo Nott from school, but not the other two Hermione had mentioned.

"Greg and Tracey were both in our year," Hermione answered, shaking her head at how little the Slytherins had registered on Lavender's radar. "Gregory Goyle and Tracey Davis." She supplied.

"I remember Goyle," Lavender said brightly. "I can't remember the girl though," She shrugged.

"Tracey was pretty quiet in school, she kept to herself," Hermione said.

Lavender shrugged again, clearly not remembering Tracey. Instead of being drawn into a conversation to help her remember someone she wasn't interested in, she instead turned her attention to Rose who was busy trying her dress on.

"You look lovely, Rose," Lavender smiled.

Rose and Lyra had both gone with different style dresses, although the length was the same because that was what Lily wanted. Rose's dress was a halter neck, while Lyra's dress had thin straps that crossed at the back. With the dresses not being as fancy as Rose would have liked, she wanted them to be floor length, but Lily had chosen for the dresses to stop just above the knees.

"I still think they're too plain," Rose grumbled. To be honest she thought the dresses were very classy, but she didn't want to admit that as Lyra was a big fan of the bridesmaid's dresses.

"They're understated," Lily said. "I like that about them."

"This way we complement Lily, not take attention away from her," Lyra said to Rose. "It's a bridesmaid's job to make the bride look good, not overshadow her."

"I'll remember that when you get married and I'm your bridesmaid," Lily chuckled as she helped Lyra check her dress was perfect.

"Alex needs to propose first, and I can't see that happening any time soon," Lyra replied.

"Trouble in paradise, is there?" Rose smirked, unable to stop herself from commenting.

"No, Alex and I are very happy together," Lyra replied, narrowing her eyes at Rose.

"Yet he won't propose," Rose mocked. "That doesn't sound happy to me."

"We don't have to be married to love each other," Lyra said. "I know Alex loves me, and married or not I know we're going to be together for years to come."

"You never know Lyra, one day Alex might just surprise you like Blaise did to Daphne," Hermione told her daughter. "His proposal came out of nowhere."

"I hope if Alex does propose it's a lot more romantic than what Blaise managed," Lyra laughed.

"How did Blaise propose?" Ginny asked as Hermione laughed along with her daughter.

"He proposed in the middle of an argument," Hermione said. "He and Daphne were in the middle of this massive argument and he agreed to give in and let her win the fight if she agreed to marry him."

"And Daphne agreed to that?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"They were both so stunned that they stopped their fight," Hermione said. "Blaise hadn't even meant to propose, it just kind of slipped out. When they talked he admitted it was what he wanted and he got down on one knee and proposed again. That's when Daphne said yes."

Talking of proposals got the conversation back to Lily and Scorpius and while Rose and Lyra finished taking off their dresses and hanging them up for Sunday, Lily told the story of how Scorpius proposed to her by taking to the top of the Eiffel Tower and presenting her with a diamond ring.

"He took you into the muggle world?" Lavender questioned in surprise.

"Scorpius does have muggle heritage," Hermione pointed out. "Both Lyra and Scorpius are comfortable in the muggle world, as is Draco these days."

"I just never expected a Malfoy to venture into the muggle world," Lavender remarked.

"Once upon a time a Malfoy wouldn't have married someone from the Weasley family, or a muggleborn," Hermione retorted. "Times change, Lavender."

"Yes, they do," Ginny sighed as she looked over to where her little girl was laughing with Lyra about something, hardly able to believe that her youngest child was getting married in less than forty eight hours.


	16. Chapter 16

"Do you think it would be terribly unsociable if we stayed in bed all day?" Draco asked Hermione as the couple lay in bed, neither of them making a move to get up.

It was the Saturday morning and the rest of Lily's family was expected to show up over the course of the day. The hotel's spa and leisure facilities would also be available for those wishing to make use of them. However no firm plans had been made by anyone regarding how their day was going to go.

"I doubt we can stay in bed all day, but I'm sure we don't have to get up just yet," Hermione grinned at her husband.

Acting quickly before Hermione changed her mind, Draco reached for his wife's naked body. Within a few minutes the couple were rolling around the large bed, making the most of their morning in the fancy hotel. Apart from a quick break, where they ordered breakfast in bed, the couple spent their entire morning in bed.

"Are you sure we have to get up now?" Draco complained when Hermione wriggled out of his grasp and jumped out of bed.

"Yes," Hermione insisted. "We've been in bed all morning, so we really should show our face at lunch. If we don't someone might come looking for us."

"I'm sure it's very clear to everyone how we've been spending our morning," Draco said as he relented and climbed out of bed. "And I bet we weren't the only ones missing in action this morning. I bet a few other people chose to spend the morning in bed."

"We'll find out when we go down to lunch," Hermione said as she wandered off into the bathroom.

Half an hour later both Hermione and Draco were ready to leave the sanctuary of their hotel suite. After a brief plea from Draco to remain in the suite the couple headed down to the ground floor for lunch. With the posh restaurant being prepared for that evening, lunch was being held in the hotel's less fancy dining room, which was where dinner had been the previous evening.

When they entered the room, Hermione and Draco found that most of Lily's family had arrived. The room was full of Weasleys, but luckily for Draco there were seats empty next to Daphne and Blaise. Daphne and Blaise were sitting on a table with George and Angelina and Draco's parents.

"You've finally joined us, have you?" Blaise remarked as the couple took their seats. "We thought you were staying in your room all day."

"I did try, but Hermione insisted we show our faces," Draco replied.

"I didn't want people thinking we were being rude," Hermione explained. "As parents of the groom, I'm sure we're expected to be around."

"Does that mean you're coming to the spa this afternoon?" Angelina questioned

"Who else is going?" Hermione asked, wanting to know who else would be around the spa before she made a final decision.

"We're all going," Angelina said, gesturing to Daphne and Narcissa as well as herself. "I think Lily and Lyra are going, and they got Roxy to agree as well. Ginny was thinking about coming along, so were Fleur and Victoire."

"What about Lavender and Rose?" Hermione asked. With so many people heading to the spa she doubted she would refuse to join them, but she had to admit it would be better without Lavender and Rose there to sour the atmosphere.

"Rose was going up to the roof to sunbathe with Lucy and young Molly," Angelina answered. "As for Lavender, she was planning on going to get her hair cut and styled before tomorrow."

"Come on Hermione, it'll be fun," Daphne coaxed. "We can have a nice sauna, and get a relaxing massage."

"Okay, I'm in," Hermione agreed. "But I am not getting into any sort of mud bath, they were horrible."

"I've heard mud baths were supposed to be good for your skin," Narcissa said. Even though she regularly visited spas, she'd never tried a mud bath before.

"They might be good for your skin, but the mud gets everywhere," Hermione replied. "It's a bit like when you've been on the beach and you keep finding sand all over weeks later."

"What exactly did you do in this mud bath, Hermione?" Blaise asked with raised eyebrows. He understood the sand thing, but even then it mainly happened when he and Daphne had been indulging in a bit of fun on the beach.

"I didn't do anything, I just lay there like you're supposed to," Hermione told Blaise. "But when I got out, there was mud everywhere. I had several showers, and still had mud in places I would rather not mention."

"We'll avoid the mud baths," Daphne said as the group chuckled at Hermione. "Maybe we could try a seaweed wrap instead."

"Isn't that where they wrap you up like a mummy?" Hermione asked. "I'm not sure I fancy that."

"Me either. I'm not into bondage," Angelina said, drawing laughter from the others.

"I like a bit of bondage, it's fun," Blaise smirked.

"It is," Draco agreed.

"As if you would know," Hermione snorted at her husband. "You hate not being in control."

"It doesn't mean I don't like bondage," Draco argued. "As long as I'm not the one tied up, I'm happy. In fact I rather like having you at my mercy."

"Before the pair of you whip out the handcuffs, let's return to planning this afternoon," Daphne said. "So Hermione, if you won't do the mud bath again, or try a seaweed wrap, what will you try?"

"I'm happy to lounge in the sauna for a bit, then have a massage," Hermione replied. "If I'm felling adventurous I might try the hot rocks."

"Does that not hurt?" Angelina asked. She'd seen other people using the hot rocks, but she'd always been worried in case they burnt.

"It doesn't actually," Hermione said. "It just feels like you've got something warm on your back. It's actually rather relaxing."

With the women's afternoon sorted, attention turned to what the men would do. Blaise explained that some of the youngsters were heading out to play quidditch, while Lucius was organising a poker game in one of the bars.

"Make sure you don't lose too much money," Angelina said to George as the women got up to leave.

"I won't, I know what I'm doing," George said to his wife. "It's not my first time playing poker."

"But it's your first time playing Slytherins," Hermione pointed out. "Watch out for all of them, they all cheat."

"We do not cheat," Lucius stated, looking offended at his daughter-in-law's suggestion.

"Fine, you twist things to your advantage," Hermione corrected, repeating what Lucius always told her when she accused him of cheating at cards or any other game.

"That's better," Lucius smiled at Hermione. "We just use all our Slytherin cunning to make sure we win."

"Don't worry, I'm not your average Gryffindor," George smirked. "I'm capable of twisting things as well."

Hermione laughed as she realised George was right, and if there was anyone capable of handling Draco, Lucius and Blaise, it was George. George was a master manipulator and there were many a time back in school Hermione had thought that he and Fred would have made excellent Slytherins.

Leaving the men to finalise arrangements for their card game, the women headed to the spa. Much to Hermione's relief, Lavender and Rose never turned up so the afternoon was actually very relaxing and she enjoyed herself getting to know Victoire and Roxanne a bit better.

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After spending a relaxing afternoon in the spa, Lily headed back to her suite to get ready for the big family dinner. When she entered the room she found Scorpius lounging on one of the sofa's almost asleep.

"Did you have a good afternoon?" Lily asked her fiancé. "How was quidditch?"

"Your family play rough," Scorpius groaned. "Fred's a right speed demon, he nearly knocked me off my broom twice."

"Fred is a bundle of energy," Lily laughed. "You should have seen him when he was younger, he was a right terror. When we were younger the whole family once went to a carol service near to The Burrow, and there was a giant tree right at the heart of things. Fred climbed right to the top and he refused to come down until he finished singing all the carols."

"Did you lot just leave him up there?" Scorpius questioned with a laugh. While parts of Lily's family were a bit sedate and not very welcoming, parts of them were great fun, like Fred, his sister and parents.

"Uncle George tried to climb up after him, but he ended up in trouble when he fell back down to earth and broke several of the branches as he did so," Lily said. "In the end half the family worked together to get Fred down using magic. Not that it was easy considering he held onto the tree as tightly as he could and he was wriggling around all the time."

"Mum would have killed me if I'd tried something like that when I was little," Scorpius said. He'd actually gotten up to a fair bit of mischief in his time, but he'd never climbed a Christmas tree.

"Aunt Angelina wasn't happy, but I'm not sure it bothered Fred. He just found the whole thing hilarious," Lily replied. "Although come to mention it, so did Uncle George. He tried being mad at Fred, but everyone could see he was proud that his son could cause as much trouble as he could."

"That's a talent your uncle still possesses," Scorpius told Lily. "Before I came up I checked on things in the bar and it would appear George won big at the poker. Grandpa was muttering curses about losing, and he never loses."

"I can't believe anyone would play with Uncle George, he cheats," Lily laughed.

"So does my grandfather," Scorpius said. "But it would appear George came out on top this afternoon."

"Just as long as it doesn't create any bad feeling tonight," Lily said as she headed over to the wardrobe to pull out her dress for the evening.

"It won't," Scorpius reassured Lily. "Grandpa may have been cursing George, but they were still drinking together. It was just a friendly bit of banter."

"Are you going to sit there all day?" Lily asked Scorpius as she finished sorting her outfit for the evening and found her fiancé still sitting in the same place.

"It'll not take me long to get ready," Scorpius replied.

"Don't forget you need to get your things ready for tonight," Lily said. "After dinner you're heading in with Alex, and you won't be allowed back into the room."

"I thought I just had to sleep next door, you never mentioned not being allowed back into the room," Scorpius said with a frown as he stood up.

"After tonight, you're not seeing me until the actual wedding. It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding," Lily explained.

"Superstitious claptrap," Scorpius muttered.

"It's tradition, and we're sticking to it. So make sure you've got everything sorted before we head down to dinner." Lily told Scorpius, before she headed into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Reluctantly Scorpius gathered his things together while Lily was using the bathroom. Once his fiancée returned to the bedroom, he took his turn in the bathroom and the couple began getting ready for dinner.

Lily was wearing a short black and red dress and the second Scorpius saw her in the outfit, he suggested they skipped dinner and spent some time together before the wedding. Slipping on her heels and grabbing her bag, Lily laughed at his suggestion and told him he would now have to wait until after they were married for some alone time.

"Does that mean no sneaking off during dinner for a quickie?" Scorpius asked as they left the suite and headed down to the ground floor of the hotel.

"We'll have to wait and see what happens," Lily replied with a saucy smile.

Taking Lily's smile as an indicator a quickie was a definite possibility, a decidedly happier Scorpius entered the restaurant. Small groups of Lily's family had already arrived and had taken their seats at the table, including Ron, Lavender and Rose. Lily had decided to go with a no seating plan policy, meaning people were sitting next to who they wanted. After greeting everyone, Scorpius steered Lily to the top end of the table as far away from Ron, Lavender and Rose as he could get.

"Make sure we get the good people sitting next to us," Scorpius hissed to his fiancée.

"Who do you consider the good people?" Lily asked.

"My parents and grandparents, Alex and Lyra, Daphne and Blaise, your brothers, Fred and Roxanne, your Uncle George and Aunt Angelina," Scorpius answered. "Even your parents aren't bad, now they've decided to give me chance."

"What you really mean is anyone other than Uncle Ron, Aunt Lavender and Rose," Lily chuckled.

"Yeah," Scorpius nodded. "I'm just hoping they stay down the other end of the table. I know they're your family Lily, but they're really annoying. Plus it doesn't help that Ron clearly hates me and my family and isn't willing to give us a chance."

Luckily for Scorpius, Ron, Lavender and Rose all remained down the other end of the table as dinner got underway. Apart from Lily's parents, who had sat next to Ron and Lavender, almost everyone else Scorpius had mentioned were sitting nearby, meaning the meal passed with plenty of banter and laughter.

Just before dessert was served, Harry stood up and called for a bit of silence. Since no-one was expecting any speeches the move took people by surprise, but everyone gave Harry all their attention when it became clear he wanted to talk.

"I just want to say a few words," Harry said. "Mainly I want to welcome Scorpius to the family. As you're all aware, Ginny and I weren't too keen when Lily first told us who she was going to marry. However, we want to say we were wrong to judge Scorpius before getting to know him. And now we have gotten to know him, we've found he's a really nice young lad and we're more than happy to give our blessing to him marrying our daughter. All we ask is that he continues to make her happy and looks after her in the way she deserves to be treated."

"I promise I'll do both those things," Scorpius told Harry as the older wizard sat back down.

"Do you not want to make a speech?" Narcissa asked Draco, once Harry had finished. "Should you not welcome Lily to the family?"

"I don't need to make a speech for Lily to know she's a part of this family. She already knows that," Draco told his mother. "You do know that, don't you Lily?" He asked, turning to his future daughter-in-law.

"I do," Lily nodded. "You welcomed me into the family a long time ago."

"See, there's no need for speeches," Draco said, sighing in relief at the thought of not having to stand up and make a speech.

"Can we carry on with that thought process tomorrow?" Alex asked hopefully. "I'm dreading my best man speech."

"Why?" Narcissa narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Alex. "I hope you didn't ask your father for advice on what to say. His speech at Draco and Hermione's wedding was practically X-rated."

"It was entertaining though," Blaise grinned. "I got plenty of laughs."

"You caused plenty of red faces as well," Hermione pointed out.

"Don't worry, my speech only has a few racy bits," Alex reassured Narcissa. "I'm just not looking forward to standing up in front of everyone and delivering the speech."

"I've already told you, keep it short and sweet," Scorpius told his friend. "We don't need long winded speeches."

"That's a good job, because his speech is pretty short," Lyra chuckled.

"I didn't know what else to say," Alex said defensively.

"Maybe you and Scorp can work on it tonight," Lily suggested.

"Crap, I forgot about tonight," Alex groaned. "Do we really have to do this? Can't things just stay the way they are for tonight?"

"No," Lily replied as she stubbornly shook her head. "We are going to do this right, and that means Scorpius is staying with you tonight."

"This is so unfair. I shouldn't have to go without sex just because you two are getting married," Alex complained to his best friend and his fiancée, before turning to his girlfriend. "When we get married, there'll be none of this messing around and changing rooms. We'll just share a bed as normal the night before the wedding."

It wasn't until everyone was looking at Alex in surprise, that he realised what he'd just said. Ignoring the stares of the others, Alex concentrated on Lyra who was looking at him in amazement.

"When?" Lyra finally whispered. "Not if, when."

"Yeah, I sort of got carried away with myself," Alex admitted sheepishly.

"So you don't see us getting married?" Lyra questioned, her pretty face clouding over in disappointment.

"I do," Alex replied, very aware that everyone was watching him. "But I have to ask you first, not just assume."

"I think that's what you're doing," Scorpius whispered to his friend. "Although you are making a bit of a hash of it."

"Just ignore him," Lyra glared at her meddling brother. "I know you were talking about the distant future, not right now."

"Actually I don't think I was talking about the distant future," Alex confessed quietly. "I love you Lyra, and I would much rather marry you sooner rather than later."

"Is that a proposal?" Lyra asked with a coy smile.

"It is as long as Scorp and Lily don't mind us getting engaged at their wedding," Alex replied.

"Of course we don't, you two go for it," Lily grinned.

"In that case, yes," Lyra smiled at Alex. "I would love to marry you."

Lyra's acceptance of Alex's proposal drew cheers from everyone apart from Rose and her parents. As the newly engaged couple shared a steamy kiss, Scorpius asked for more champagne and once everyone had a full glass they toasted Alex and Lyra, before the attention returned to Scorpius and Lily and people drank a toast to the couple who were due to be married the following day.


	17. Chapter 17

The day of Scorpius and Lily's wedding turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly by mid-morning and there was no need for any charms to be used on the gardens of the hotel. The wedding could go ahead in the blazing sunshine, without rain threating to interrupt the day.

The Sunday morning was a hive of activity at the hotel with almost everyone involved in making sure everything was in place. The flowers that had been delivered the previous day were transported to the ballroom and garden, where they were then displayed as intended. Molly was in charge in the ballroom, and she had several members of her family making sure the place was perfect for the reception. Narcissa meanwhile was in charge in the garden and she was making sure everything was ready for the ceremony.

As for Lily and Scorpius, the couple stayed in their respective rooms all morning. Scorpius and Alex lounged about playing cards and relaxing, while Lily spent her morning having a nice relaxing bath and beginning the long task of preparing for the wedding. Daphne had agreed to help Lily with her hair and make-up, so she was present in the room all morning along with Lyra.

Ginny poked her head in to check on her daughter several times, but she was also making sure there were no problems downstairs and the rest of the family were okay. Hermione also checked on Lily a couple of times, as well as making sure Scorpius was okay, but like Ginny she was busy making sure things were running smoothly with the arrangements.

Both Scorpius and Lily had lunch in their suites with Lyra and Alex, but everyone else gathered to have a bite to eat in the dining room. Obviously the talk over lunch was the upcoming wedding and if everything was running smoothly.

"The garden's all ready," Narcissa confirmed.

"So is the ballroom," Molly added.

"When will the first guests be here?" Harry asked, checking the time on his watch.

"They could start arriving any minute now," Blaise answered. "I've got the staff on alert, and they're going to direct the guests into one of the lounges where drinks will be served. I've also set up a present collection service at reception, so people can leave the wedding presents and we can stack them in the ballroom before the reception."

"I think we should have someone from each family mingling and greeting the other guests," Molly suggested. "In fact once we're ready, I suggest we all convene in the lounge."

"That sounds like a good idea," Narcissa nodded. "If we do that, then people can slip away to go and make sure everything is okay with Scorpius and Lily."

With plans in place for the afternoon, everyone finished lunch and headed off to get ready for the wedding. When most people were ready they went down to the lounge to relax before the wedding, but certain people were in with the bride and groom. Draco headed to check everything was okay with Scorpius and Alex, while Hermione did the same with Lily and Lyra. Ginny was also present in Lily's suite and so was Rose as a bridesmaid, which of course meant Lavender was there.

Lily wasn't yet dressed and was wearing one of the hotel's complimentary bathrobes, although her hair and make-up were in place. Lyra and Rose were also wearing bathrobes as Daphne fixed their hair and make-up. Ginny and Lavender were both dressed for the wedding, with Ginny wearing a gorgeous light blue dress whereas Lavender had chosen a pink dress that was a bit bright in Hermione's opinion. Hermione was dressed in a beautiful pale yellow dress, with her curls clipped back from her face with a diamond pin.

"Have you seen Scorpius?" Lily asked Hermione as the witch entered the room. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Hermione told Lily. "To be honest I don't think the nerves have really kicked in for him yet. No doubt they will when he starts to get ready."

"Speaking of getting ready, should I be getting my dress on?" Lily checked.

"I would wait a bit," Ginny advised her daughter. "The ceremony isn't for another couple of hours, and your dress isn't complicated to get on or anything. You don't want to be sitting around for ages in your dress, it'll only heighten your nerves."

"I'm not nervous," Lily insisted, although her body language said otherwise.

"It's okay to be nervous," Hermione reassured Lily. "It doesn't mean you're having second thoughts, it just means you're aware of how big a thing you're doing. It doesn't matter how much you love someone, or how sure you are that you want to spend the rest of your life with them, actually getting married is a nerve wracking experience."

"Hermione's right," Ginny said with a smile. "I was a bag of nerves on my wedding day, and I never once doubted what I was doing. I knew it was what I wanted and I knew it was the right thing to do, but I was still nervous."

"I guess I am a bit nervous," Lily admitted, feeling better now she knew her nerves weren't cold feet. "I think I'm just worried in case things go wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong," Ginny reassured her daughter. "Everything is running like clockwork downstairs."

"Have people started to arrive?" Lily asked.

"I think they started to arrive a while ago," Hermione replied. "I was actually just going to go and see who'd arrived."

"Will you be back before it's time to leave?" Lily questioned, wanting Hermione to be around before she walked down the aisle.

"Of course I will," Hermione smiled at Lily. "I'll not be long, I just want to go and say hello to a few people. I promise I'll be back up here to see you and Scorpius before the wedding."

Giving Lily a reassuring hug, Hermione left the suite and headed off downstairs. When she entered the lounge were people were gathering, Hermione spotted the majority of the Weasleys and some people she didn't know that she assumed were friends of Lily's. She also spotted quite a few friends of her sons that she said hello to as she passed. Hermione had been looking for Pansy, Theo, Greg and Tracey when she entered the room but she quickly got distracted by Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood over the other side of the room.

"Neville. Luna," Hermione smiled as she approached her old housemates.

"Hermione," Neville grinned as he swept Hermione up into a hug.

Hermione spent a few minutes catching up with Neville and Luna and explaining what she was doing at the wedding. After spending a bit of time with her old friends, and promising to catch up with them after the wedding, Hermione continued to greet the other guests. Eventually she ended up talking to Pansy, Theo, Greg and Tracey.

"How's Scorpius doing?" Theo asked. "Is he a bag of nerves yet?"

"He wasn't last time I saw him, but who knows what he's like now," Hermione replied.

"And how's things been for you?" Pansy asked. "What's it been like re-connecting with your old friends?"

"It went better with Harry," Hermione said. "Ron and I have barely spoken, but Harry and I have come to an understanding and are friends of a sort."

"That's good," Tracey smiled. Normally she would have told Hermione not to even think of forgiving her old friends after they had abandoned her, but given the circumstances of her reconnection with Harry it was good that they had forged some sort of friendship for their kids' sake.

"It's not as if you'll have to see much of Weasley, anyway," Greg said. "It's Potter's daughter Scorpius is marrying, so Weasley shouldn't be much of an issue."

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Hermione chuckled, as she told her friends about how Ron and Lavender had been hanging around throughout all the wedding preparations.

"How awful," Pansy laughed. "It sounds like these past few weeks have been fun."

"That's one word for it," Hermione smirked. "Although I have to admit, I can't wait to go home."

After spending a few more minutes talking to her friends, Hermione checked with Narcissa that everything was running smoothly before she headed back upstairs. After poking her head into Lily's room and finding the girls starting to get into their dresses, Hermione headed next door to check on Scorpius.

For the first time that morning, Hermione spotted signs of nerves in her son as he paced the floor in the suite. Alex and Draco were sitting watching Scorpius, although neither of them seemed too concerned by the blond wizard's pacing.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione checked.

"Just a few nerves," Draco told his wife. "He'll be fine."

"No, I won't," Scorpius shook his head. "I can't do it. I can't stand in front of all those people and pour my heart out. I just know I'm going to open my mouth and nothing will come out."

"It will, I promise you," Hermione said. "When you're up there, the words will come."

"What if they don't?" Scorpius whispered, dropping onto a chair and holding his head in his hands.

"They will," Draco insisted. "I felt the same when I got married. In fact it took me two goes to actually say my vows. The first time I opened my mouth nothing happened, but I tried again and it worked."

Scorpius nodded, although he still didn't look totally convinced by his father's promise that everything would be okay. Sensing Scorpius was still nervous, Hermione perched on the side of the chair her son was sitting on and wrapped her arm around him.

"The only thing that matters is Lily," She told her son. "Concentrate on her, and everything will be okay. The only thing I can remember of my wedding ceremony is your father, no-one else even registered to me."

"Thanks Mum." Scorpius gave his mother a hug before standing up and announcing it was time to get ready.

Satisfied everything was okay with Scorpius, Hermione left the room and headed into Lily's room. Things were much calmer in Lily's room and the bride's nerves looked to have vanished as she stood calmly while Ginny and Daphne were making sure her dress was perfect.

"Is everything okay next door?" Lily checked. Hermione had been gone longer than she'd thought and she was getting worried that Scorpius had changed his mind about marrying her.

"Everything's fine," Hermione promised with a smile. "How are things going in here?"

"We'll be ready in no time," Ginny said.

Smiling happily, Hermione sat down and watched as last minute alterations were made to the bride and her bridesmaid's. Once Lily was ready, the group just chatted until a knock on the door signalled that Scorpius had headed down stairs.

"That's our cue to leave," Ginny announced. "I'll send your Dad up, and then we can get moving."

Everyone hugged Lily as they departed the room, giving the bride a few minutes of alone time before the ceremony. Once they were downstairs they found Harry in the lounge and told him it was time. They then made their way outside, where the other guests were taking their seats in the garden. Lavender and Ginny went to take their seats, while Hermione checked that Lyra and Rose were in position and knew what they would be doing. After checking the bridesmaids were in place, Hermione made her way to her seat.

"Scorp looks as calm as anything now," Hermione said to Draco, sliding into the seat beside him and taking hold of his hand.

Draco looked to where their son was standing at the top of the aisle with Alex, and he agreed with his wife. After Scorpius's mini meltdown over his vows, he'd calmed down considerably and now all he wanted to do was marry the witch he loved.

Luckily for Scorpius he didn't have to wait long as Hermione had barely been seated for ten minutes when the music began to play, signalling the arrival of the bridal party. Rose was the first one down the aisle, followed by Lyra who kept shooting Alex flirtatious looks. Once the two bridesmaids were at the end of the aisle, all attention turned to where Lily was slowly walking down the aisle with Harry.

Lily was the very definition of a blushing bride, and she looked absolutely beautiful as she walked down the aisle on her father's arm. Her dress was perfectly elegant and highlighted her great figure. Lily's happiness radiated off her and every single person could see how happy she was to be getting married. It was also the same with Scorpius, and it was very clear that he only had eyes for his bride.

Eventually Harry and Lily reached the end of the aisle and Harry handed his daughter over to Scorpius. Brushing aside the tears that threatened to spill, Harry kissed his daughter on the cheek before joining an already crying Ginny in the congregation.

At the altar, Scorpius took hold of Lily's hand and the pair turned to the Minister who was about to conduct their wedding. After exchanging a set of standard vows, both Lily and Scorpius recited their personal vows to one another. Scorpius's worries about not being able to speak were unfounded as he not only delivered his vows with passion, but he even added a few things as he was talking.

Both of their vows were moving and heartfelt and by the end, Hermione had tears running down her face. Silently handing his wife a handkerchief, Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione and pulled her into his side as the ceremony began to come to an end. Obviously the ceremony ended with Scorpius and Lily being pronounced husband and wife and Scorpius pulled Lily into a searing kiss to seal their union.

"Like father, like son," Hermione chuckled, remembering the heated kiss Draco had bestowed upon her on their wedding day.

"Your first kiss as a married couple has to be memorable," Draco said.

"It was definitely memorable," Hermione smiled. "And I'm sure Scorpius and Lily will remember theirs."

"I'm sure they will," Draco said, chuckling as the newlyweds still hadn't parted.

Eventually Lily and Scorpius parted and turned to face their friends and family. Beaming happily the couple entwined their hands and set off back down the aisle as Mr and Mrs Malfoy.


	18. Chapter 18

Lily and Scorpius were still basking in the glow of getting married as they signed the documentation that made it official. After the ceremony all the official photographs had been taken, before the couple headed into the hotel to deal with the official business while everyone else headed to the ballroom. With the relevant documents signed, the Minister wished the couple every happiness for the future before departing the hotel.

"Are you ready for the rest of the afternoon Mrs Malfoy?" Scorpius asked his wife with a huge grin.

"I can't wait until the reception is over and we've got a few hours to ourselves," Lily confessed. There would be about three hours between the reception and the party in the club, and Lily fully intended on making the most of them.

"I'm looking forward to that as well," Scorpius smirked. "I can't wait to get that dress off you."

"Don't you like it?" Lily pouted. She knew Scorpius did indeed like the dress as he whispered how stunning she looked before they got married.

"It's beautiful, but what's underneath is even more beautiful," Scorpius answered.

"How do you know, you haven't seen my underwear," Lily joked.

"I wasn't talking about your underwear, and you know I wasn't," Scorpius said, pulling Lily into his arms. "I was talking about you being completely naked. In my opinion there's no better sight in the world."

"Let's just hope you're not sick of the sight by the time we return from honeymoon," Lily retorted.

"I'll never get sick of the sight of my gorgeous wife," Scorpius replied sincerely.

Lily smiled up at her husband and the pair shared a brief kiss before they headed for the ballroom hand in hand. When they got to the doors of the ballroom, they found Blaise waiting for them and he made them wait outside as he announced them.

"Ladies and Gentleman, may I have your attention," Blaise called, silencing the room. "The bride and groom have now arrived. I present to you Mr and Mrs Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius and Lily shared an amused look at Blaise's dramatics, before they entered the ballroom to cheers and clapping. As they made their way to the top table the couple stopped and spoke to several guests and thanked them for coming. When they finally reached the top table they slid into their seats and the reception began.

It had been decided that the meal would be served first, before the toasts and cutting of the cake. Throughout the meal, Scorpius and Lily only had eyes for each other and they paid very little attention to the other people at their table. However, no-one begrudged the couple their privacy and the general consensus was that they made a lovely couple.

"How long do you think it'll be before they give us grandkids?" Harry asked Hermione as he watched Scorpius and Lily laughing about something or other.

"Apparently they're planning on waiting until the restaurant is up and running before even thinking about children," Hermione replied.

"That won't work," Draco snorted. "They can barely keep their hands to themselves. I bet Lily's pregnant within the year."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she comes back off honeymoon pregnant," Ginny chuckled.

"The way they're going, she's going to be pregnant before the end of the reception," Draco laughed as Scorpius's hand disappeared underneath the table and Lily immediately let out a low whimper as her husband's hand slipped under her dress.

"Sometimes I marvel at how like you that boy is," Hermione said to her husband. Scorpius's actions with Lily was a trick Draco had pulled on her many a time over the years.

"The Malfoy genes are strong," Draco declared with a proud grin.

"Very strong," Harry remarked, gesturing to further down the table where it appeared Lucius was busy teasing Narcissa under the table.

Harry had expected Draco to be embarrassed by his parent's antics, but all the blond wizard did was roll his eyes and shake his head. Hermione also shook her head at her in-law's actions as she changed the subject to the upcoming speeches. The mention of speeches ignited Harry's nerves and he spent the rest of the meal fretting over what he was going to say.

Once dinner was over it was time for the speeches, starting with Harry's as father of the bride. Despite being nervous when he stood up, Harry soon got into the flow of things as he spoke lovingly about his only daughter. He also reiterated his welcome to the family to Scorpius and he ended by wishing the couple all the happiness they deserved. After Harry spoke, Draco said a few words saying how proud he and Hermione were of Scorpius and how much they were looking forward to having Lily as a part of the family.

With the family speeches over, all eyes turned to Alex as the Best Man. After drowning a full glass of champagne, Alex stood up and delivered his Best Man speech. He spoke about his friendship with Scorpius and how they were more like brothers, before telling a few stories about how Lily hadn't immediately fallen for Scorpius's charms and she'd made the handsome blond wizard work for her attention. Of course he couldn't resist adding a bit of spice to proceedings and he told a couple of risqué tales about the young couple, revealing a few of their wilder moments. After gaining quite a lot of laughs, Alex returned to the serious nature of his speech as he wished the couple all the best and led the toast to the newlyweds.

When the toasts were over, Scorpius and Lily cut the cake before heading onto the dance floor for the first dance. After Scorpius and Lily shared the first dance, several other couples took to the floor as the fun really began. With other people up and dancing, Scorpius and Lily were soon separated as people wanted to dance with the bride and groom and talk to them.

"How does it feel to be married?" Harry asked Lily as he tentatively danced with his daughter, trying his best not to stand on her feet. Dancing still wasn't his forte, and the only reason he was dancing at all was because it was his little girls wedding and she wanted to dance with her father.

"Perfect," Lily smiled. "And it's made all the better because you and Mum gave Scorpius a chance. I'm so pleased you supported us."

"I'm just sorry it took us so long to come round," Harry sighed, knowing that they'd made the first few weeks of the wedding preparations harder than necessary by their dislike of Scorpius.

"It doesn't matter," Lily said. "What matters is that you support us now, and you'll be a part of our life in the future."

"We will," Harry said. "We'll be visiting all the time, and we expect to see you two regularly as well."

"Don't worry, we'll visit as often as we can," Lily told her father as the dance ended and a relieved Harry could let go of his daughter.

"I love you, Lily," Harry said, pecking his daughter on the cheek. "And I was so proud of you today."

"Thanks Dad." Lily smiled at her father, before giving him a hug.

Not wanting to cry in front of everyone, Harry patted his daughter on the back before ushering her off to find Scorpius. With a lump in his throat, Harry turned around and made his way back to the top table. Ginny was nowhere to be seen, but Hermione was sitting sipping champagne as she watched proceedings with a smile.

"Are you not dancing?" Harry asked as he approached his friend.

"You're not asking, are you?" Hermione questioned worriedly. She'd been watching Harry dance with Ginny and it was clear he still had two left feet when it came to dancing.

"God no," Harry sighed dramatically as he collapsed onto the chair beside Hermione. "I promised Lily a dance, and that's all. No more dancing for me."

"I'm sure the feet of all the women here are very relieved to hear that," Hermione joked. "But seriously, I'm having a break from dancing. No doubt Draco will drag me back onto the floor later, but for now I'm happy watching."

"Watching is definitely preferable to dancing," Harry agreed.

"So what did you think of the ceremony?" Hermione asked Harry. She knew Harry had made a real effort with Scorpius lately, so she was hoping that he fully accepted Lily's marriage to her son.

"I thought it was lovely," Harry said. "I've never seen Lily happier."

"So you're not mad she married a Malfoy?" Hermione checked.

"No, I'm not mad she married a Malfoy," Harry answered, turning to look at his old friend. "If Scorpius is as good of a husband as his father I know she'll be very happy. Marrying a Malfoy was quite possibly the best thing my best friend ever did, and I think the same could be said for my daughter."

Hermione smiled at Harry as she reached over and grabbed his hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. Still holding hands the two friends chatted casually as they carried on watching the guests dancing and having fun. Eventually Draco appeared at Hermione's side and whisked her off onto the dance floor. As Harry watched the couple he couldn't help but smile sadly, even after so many years it was obvious the couple were still madly in love and he couldn't help but wish he'd been there to see them get married.

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Lily's cries of ecstasy echoed around the honeymoon suite as she experienced her second orgasm of the evening. Seconds later, Scorpius's cries joined that of his wife as he followed her into bliss. Satisfied, but exhausted, from their romp the couple collapsed back onto the bed in each other's arms.

Lily and Scorpius had spent the last hour and a half making the most of the time before the party in the nightclub. The official reception ended a couple of hours ago, with most people rushing off to change before the night time party. A few people had left after the formal reception, while a few people like Molly and Arthur wouldn't be attending the party. Molly had claimed the decision was so that they could babysit allowing Victoire and Teddy an opportunity to have fun, but Lily knew a big party in a club just wasn't their thing.

"We should be getting ready," Lily sighed, running her fingers through Scorpius's fine blond hair.

"There's no rush, the party can't really start without us," Scorpius replied as he pulled Lily in for a lingering kiss.

"I'm sure it can with Alex and Lyra in charge," Lily laughed. "I doubt they're going to wait for us before they start having fun."

"I guess we better get up then," Scorpius said reluctantly.

"Come on, we can grab a shower together," Lily suggested with a sly smile. "I'm sure it won't hurt if we're slightly late."

Jumping up off the bed, Scorpius grabbed Lily and pulled her into the bathroom, where they had a long steamy shower together. When they finally emerged they used magic to dry their hair and they quickly got dressed. Luckily it never took Scorpius long to get dressed, and since Lily just pulled on a one shouldered deep blue dress, minus the underwear, it didn't take her long either before she was ready to go.

"You're a tease Mrs Malfoy," Scorpius growled in Lily's ear as he pressed himself up against his wife's back.

"Easy access, sweetheart," Lily chuckled, giving Scorpius a peck on the cheek before she took hold of his hand and led him from the bridal suite.

"Just so you know, I'm going to take advantage of the fact you're not wearing underwear," Scorpius told his wife as they entered the lift.

"I'm counting on it," Lily smirked as she pressed the button that would take them to the club for their party.

When the couple emerged into the club they found the party in full swing. The entire club was packed with people enjoying themselves and having fun and age seemed to be no barrier. Within a few minutes of arriving Lily and Scorpius spotted Lucius and Narcissa huddled together in a corner like a couple of teenagers in the first flushes of romance.

"Finally you're here," Lyra exclaimed, pouncing on the couple. "Now the fun can really begin."

Taking hold of Lily's hand, Lyra pulled her and Scorpius into the crowds and towards the bar. Drinks were free flowing at the bar and it took Lyra two seconds to grab a couple of drinks and hand them to the newlyweds.

"To Scorpius and Lily," She cried, holding up her own drink. All the people nearby toasted the happy couple, before carrying on with the partying.

"This was definitely a good idea," Scorpius remarked, looking around the room and smiling as he saw how much fun people were having. Even Ron and Lavender seemed happier than normal as they swayed to the music together.

"It was," Lily agreed. "Everyone looks to be having fun."

"Of course they're having fun, we organised it," Alex said, coming up on the trio and throwing his arm around Lyra.

"You did a great job mate," Scorpius smiled at his best friend. "I think almost everyone is here."

"I haven't seen your parents, or mine for that matter," Lily said. Glancing around she could see both her brothers, numerous cousins and several aunts and uncles, but there was no sign of Draco and Hermione or Harry and Ginny.

"They're around here somewhere," Lyra said. "I saw Dad groping Mum earlier."

"I think they've commandeered one of the large booths at the back of the club," Alex said. "Last time I saw them Lily's parents were with them and so were mine. Theo and that lot are also there and I think I spotted George and his hot wife."

"Hot wife?" Lyra raised an eyebrow at her fiancé.

"Yeah, hot wife," Alex smirked. "I'm not blind Lyra, I will notice attractive witches. However I no longer picture them naked, I save that pleasure for you."

"You picture me naked?" Lyra laughed.

"All the time," Alex replied seriously. "In fact I'm picturing you naked right now."

"That's my little sister you're talking about, Alex," Scorpius said quickly, before Alex got carried away and described more than he needed to hear. "Whisper dirty things in her ear, don't say them out loud for everyone to hear."

"Okay." Alex shrugged, before leaning over and whispering something in Lyra's ear.

Scorpius wasn't sure what Alex said, but whatever it was had Lyra nodding excitedly and after saying a quick goodbye the couple darted off into the crowds.

"Come on, let's go and dance," Lily said as Alex and Lyra vanished from view.

Grabbing hold of his wife's hand, Scorpius took Lily onto the dance floor and the couple proceeded to dance very differently to what they'd done that afternoon. The dancing at the reception had been respectable and formal, whereas now there was virtually no space between them as they swayed to the music together.

In-between the dancing and heated kissing sessions they kept indulging in, the couple spoke to lots of their guests. Lily introduced Scorpius to her friends from Hogwarts and culinary school, while Scorpius introduced Lily to the friends of his that she hadn't previously met. In amongst the fun of the evening, Scorpius also managed to take advantage of Lily's lack of underwear and he brazenly gave her an orgasm while they were sitting in one of the booths relaxing.

"You're so going to pay for that," Lily panted as she recovered and checked that no-one had noticed what had just happened.

"Bring it on," Scorpius grinned at his wife as he leant over and connected their lips for what seemed like the hundredth time since they'd tied the knot a few hours ago.


	19. Chapter 19

Hermione wandered around the suite, checking she and Draco hadn't forgotten anything. It was the Monday morning and they were getting ready to check out. A lot of the wedding guests had already checked out, but Scorpius and Lily weren't leaving until lunchtime so their families were all sticking around until the newlyweds had gone. Once she was sure they had everything, Hermione sat down on the sofa since they didn't have to be down in reception just yet.

"That's everything from the bathroom," Draco announced as he emerged from the bathroom with a couple of toiletry bags. Placing the bags in the case on the bed, Draco settled down next to his wife. "So are you ready to go home?"

"Definitely," Hermione replied, leaning her head against her husband's shoulder.

"This has definitely been an exhausting wedding," Draco agreed.

"Let's hope the next one is less hassle," Hermione chuckled. "At least with Lyra marrying Alex, we won't have to deal with the aunt and uncle from hell."

"I don't know, Astoria can be a bit of a handful at times," Draco said.

"She's harmless," Hermione retorted. "She just had a bit of a crush on you years ago, but she's happily married these days. Besides, it's not as if she's going to push her way into everything like Ron and Lavender have."

"I doubt anyone will be behaving like those two have," Draco remarked. "I have to admit, I'll be glad to see the back of them."

"Let's just hope they don't show up in France too often," Hermione smirked.

She doubted Ron and Lavender would be regular visitors, but she knew the mere thought of the couple showing up in France would be enough to worry her husband. Sure enough Draco's face twisted into a mask of horror at the thought of Ron and Lavender visiting in France, causing Hermione to laugh at her husband's horror.

"I think after today we'll not see Ron and Lavender that often," Hermione said, deciding to end Draco's worries.

"Thank Merlin for that," Draco muttered.

"Although there are a few people I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with," Hermione said to her husband.

"George and Angelina," Draco guessed. He had no problem with keeping in touch with the couple and he'd already told George they could visit in France whenever they wanted.

"I would like to keep in touch with them," Hermione said. "It's been great to see George again."

"Already sorted," Draco told his wife. "I told George yesterday that he was more than welcome to visit us anytime they wanted."

"Excellent," Hermione smiled. "And I'm sure we'll see plenty of Harry and Ginny as well."

"Are you okay with that?" Draco checked with his wife. "I know you and Potter talked and things have been easier these last few weeks, but will you want to carry on the friendship once we return home?"

"Things will never be the same between us, and we'll never be as close as we once were, but I'm happy to have him back in my life," Hermione answered. "At least Harry made an effort to talk to me and to apologise for the past, Ron hasn't even bothered. I think he's said two words to me since we re-met."

"I think you should be grateful for small mercies," Draco snorted. "Who would want to talk to Weasley?"

"Okay, I think it's time to forget about Ron," Hermione said, not wanting to get involved in bitching about her former friend. "After today, we'll only see him occasionally and I'm sure we can all manage to be civil."

Draco nodded as he checked the time and announced it was time to head downstairs. "Lily and Scorp should be leaving soon, and we don't want to miss them."

"I'm sure they won't leave without saying goodbye," Hermione said as the couple got up and grabbed their bags.

After making yet another check that they hadn't left anything, Draco and Hermione exited their suite and made their way to the ground floor. The reception area was packed with people waiting to say goodbye to the newlyweds. While Draco handed Blaise back the keys to the suite, Hermione walked over to where Lyra was sitting on Alex's lap, almost asleep.

"I hate to ask if you got any sleep last night," Hermione chuckled, sitting down in the chair beside Alex.

"I think we managed a couple of hours," Lyra yawned. "We were in the club until the early hours of the morning."

"As long as you had fun," Hermione said.

"We did," Alex grinned, seeming more alert than Lyra.

"You'll have to make sure your wedding lives up to this one," Hermione said. "It'll be a tough act to follow though."

"We're already working on it," Alex replied. "We're going to do something different for our wedding."

"Like what?" Hermione asked warily.

"We haven't decided yet, but it'll be awesome," Lyra said sleepily.

"Dad suggested a nudist wedding, but I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Alex said. "I have no desire to see my parents naked. Plus, I don't like the idea of everyone seeing Lyra without her clothes on."

"I'm pleased to hear there'll be no naked wedding," Hermione said with a sigh of relief. "Imagine the likes of Lucius at a naked wedding."

Hermione laughed as Lyra groaned and Alex shuddered at the thought of seeing Lucius without his clothes. Leaving Alex and Lyra to discuss other ways of making their wedding memorable, Hermione headed over to where Draco was talking to George and Angelina.

"Can you believe it's all over?" Angelina asked, giving Hermione a hug. "We're going to miss you Hermione."

"I hope you're going to visit us sometime," Hermione said. "The four of us could have a great time in Paris."

"Don't worry, we'll be visiting regularly," George grinned. "Wait and see, before long you'll be complaining that you can't get rid of us."

George's comments drew laughter from everyone as they began to make plans to write to each other in a few weeks and arrange the first visit. A few metres away from where Draco and Hermione were talking to George and Angelina, Ron and Lavender were standing watching and listening to proceedings with a frown.

"I can't believe your family are being so friendly," Lavender hissed. "The wedding's over, we don't have to tolerate that lot anymore."

"I think some of them actually plan on staying in touch with Hermione and Malfoy," Ron told Lavender. "George and Angelina clearly are, and I heard Charlie making plans to visit France on his next holidays. I also get the impression that Harry and Ginny will be spending time with Hermione when they go to France."

"Why haven't we been invited?" Lavender pouted.

"They don't want us," Rose snarled as she came up behind her parents. "I haven't been invited either. Last night Lily and Scorpius were inviting all sorts of people to visit, but they never invited me."

"Who did they invite?" Ron asked.

"James and Albus for a start, and Hugo," Rose huffed. "I also heard them inviting Fred and Roxy to France."

"They can't invite your brother and not you," Lavender fumed. "I'm going to go and see Ginny, she'll sort this out."

Looking around reception, Lavender spotted that Ginny and Harry were nearby and had now joined Hermione, Draco, George and Angelina. Storming over to the three couples, Lavender demanded to know why her daughter was being left out of things.

"Slow down," Ginny said to her sister-in-law. "What is Rose being left out of?"

"She's not invited to France," Lavender hissed as Ron and Rose came up beside her to see what Ginny had to say about matters. "Lily's been inviting her other cousins, but not Rose."

"We can't force Lily to invite Rose to France," Harry said diplomatically. "It's her life, and she can invite who she wants to visit."

"But it's not fair," Rose pouted, acting like a stroppy eight year old, not the adult she was. "They invited Hugo and not me."

"I can't imagine why that would be," Draco muttered, rolling his eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron demanded.

"It means that your daughter is a spoilt brat and is extremely unlikable," Draco said. After weeks of holding his tongue for the sake of the wedding, he could now say what he really thought. "She's done nothing but bitch and moan for the last seven weeks. Is it any wonder Lily and Scorpius don't want to invite her to France."

"Don't you speak about my daughter like that," Ron snarled.

"I'm only saying what everyone's been thinking for the last few weeks," Draco replied. "Rose has done nothing but try and cause trouble. Although given the actions of her parents, that's not totally surprising."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lavender demanded.

"I mean you two have been ridiculous," Draco said to Lavender and Ron. "You've pushed your way into every little thing, when quite frankly the wedding had nothing to do with you."

"Lily's our niece," Ron argued.

"That's the point." Draco rolled his eyes at Ron's stupidity. "It's not your daughter getting married, so you didn't need to hang around like a bad smell. It's not even as if you were hanging around to spend time with Hermione, since you haven't even bothered to apologise to her. The pair of you are just downright nosey and it's no wonder you've got such a horrid daughter. It's a miracle that Hugo is such a nice young lad."

Ron glared at Draco before turning to Harry and Ginny who were just watching proceedings. "Are you going to let him speak to us like that?"

"He does have a bit of a point," Ginny said warily. She didn't want to offend her brother and his wife but she could understand where Draco was coming from by accusing them of being around too much in the run up to the wedding. "You really didn't need to be around as much, and it's a bit ridiculous to complain about Rose being left out when she hasn't made an effort with anyone."

"You weren't complaining about us being around when you wanted to stop the wedding," Ron shot back. "You're only saying this because you've all become friendly and you want to go to France. If you two want to be friends with Malfoys that's your business, but we want nothing to do with them."

"Good," Draco muttered. "The feeling is entirely mutual."

"Can we leave Daddy?" Rose asked Ron. "I didn't really want to go to France anyway. I want nothing to do with the Malfoys, they're all horrid people."

"It takes one to know one, sweetheart," Draco retorted.

"Come on Rose, Lavender, we're leaving," Ron said, glaring at Draco as he put an arm around his daughter and wife. "Say goodbye to Lily for us, we're going home now," He snapped at Harry and Ginny, before the trio turned and exited the building without looking back.

"Was it something I said?" Draco smirked.

"Git." Hermione slapped her husband on the arm, hoping he hadn't ruined things with Harry and Ginny. Even though Ginny hadn't sided with Ron, she didn't want things to turn awkward between them

"It's alright Hermione," Harry said to his friend. "Your husband may have been pretty blunt, but he was right. Rose can be a nightmare and it's no surprise that Lily doesn't want to invite her to France."

"I hope this won't make things difficult between you two and Ron," Hermione said.

"Ron will be fine when he calms down," Ginny replied, dismissing concerns of her brother holding a grudge. "To be honest we should have stepped in sooner and made sure they weren't around as much. I think we're partly to blame for letting them hang around and cause trouble."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at Ginny's reassurance. After the bridges that had been mended between her and Harry, she didn't want things to go back to how they were. Luckily there wasn't much time to dwell on events with Ron and Lavender as Scorpius and Lily chose that moment to enter reception.

The happy couple said goodbye to everyone personally, until it was just them and their parents left in reception.

"So are you heading straight to the island?" Harry asked.

"We're stopping off in France first," Lily answered. "Our bags are packed and are waiting for us in the penthouse. We'll then floo to the island."

"Have fun, and make sure to write and let us know when you get back," Ginny told her daughter. "We want to come and visit you and make sure you're alright."

"I promise, you can come and visit after we return from honeymoon," Lily said, giving both her parents a final hug and a kiss before they said their goodbyes and left for home.

"Are you two hanging around for a few days?" Scorpius asked his parents. He'd noticed how well his parents had been getting along with some of Lily's family and he wasn't sure if they would be staying in England for a while longer.

"No, we're going back to the Manor to get our things together. Then after we've had dinner with your grandparents, we'll be going home," Draco answered.

"What about Lyra?" Scorpius asked.

"She was heading back to France with Alex," Hermione replied. "I think she's eager to get going on the restaurant. She was hoping to get a good chunk of the renovations done before you got back off your honeymoon."

"That would be great," Lily smiled. "Anyway, we'll see you when we get back," She added, giving both Draco and Hermione a hug.

"Have a brilliant time," Hermione told her son and daughter-in-law as she hugged Scorpius.

"And don't forget the suntan, you don't want sunburn in awkward places," Draco advised. "Believe me, it's no fun having a burnt bum."

Scorpius rolled his eyes at his father's advice as Lily laughed at her father-in-law. Saying their final goodbyes, Lily and Scorpius flooed back to France on their way to their honeymoon while Draco and Hermione headed to the manor where Lucius and Narcissa were waiting for them.

"I hope you're not rushing off straight away," Narcissa said as the couple arrived home.

"We'll leave after dinner," Draco told his mother.

"Besides, I thought Lucius might be interested to hear what I've discovered about his painting," Hermione added. Even though the wedding had been her top priority she had managed to unearth the truth behind the mysterious Claudine Malfoy.

"Is it genuine?" Lucius asked as everyone settled down to hear what Hermione had discovered. "Is she a Malfoy?"

"The painting is genuine," Hermione confirmed. "Claudine Malfoy was the younger sister of your Great-Grandfather."

"My Great-Grandfather didn't have a sister," Lucius replied. "Malfoys have only ever had one male child for centuries. Lyra was the first female Malfoy born in seven generations."

"As I said Claudine Malfoy was the sister of your Great-Grandfather. She was disowned at nineteen and her parents ensured all records of her were destroyed," Hermione explained. It had taken her a lot of work to find the small bit of information she did have since the Malfoys had been so determined to erase her from their lives. "They didn't just disown her, they pretended she never existed. Chances are even your Grandfather and Father never even knew she existed."

"Why was she wiped from the family so severely?" Draco questioned. "Surely even marrying a muggleborn wouldn't have warranted being stricken from existence so severely."

"Claudine didn't marry a muggleborn, she married a muggle," Hermione answered. "She fell in love with a muggle from a nearby village, and was disowned. She then went to live in the muggle world and abandoned her magic. She turned her back on being a witch to be with the man she loved."

"Living as a muggle would definitely be the reason behind such drastic measures," Lucius said. "Most pureblood families would go ballistic if any of them moved to the muggle world and abandoned everything they'd been brought up to believe."

"Abandoning her magic seems pretty severe," Narcissa noted. "Why didn't she carry on using magic? Did her muggle husband not know she was a witch?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "It's taken me weeks to discover the bare facts, I'll have to do more digging to find out anything else."

"I would appreciate that," Lucius said. "I think it's time we returned Claudine to the family tree. No matter what choices she made in life, she was a Malfoy and she deserves to be recognised as such."

Draco and Narcissa shared a smile at Lucius's declaration. They both knew that before Hermione had entered their lives that Lucius would have thoroughly approved of Claudine being stricken from the family records for daring to marry a muggle. However, Hermione's presence in their lives had changed Lucius dramatically and he now agreed that people should be free to marry whoever they choose and blood shouldn't dictate who a suitable partner was.

After discussing the painting and what Hermione had discovered for a while longer, Draco and Hermione headed off to get all their stuff together. They then returned to the dining room where they had a nice dinner with Lucius and Narcissa. Narcissa did try and persuade the couple to stay another night, but both Draco and Hermione were keen to get home so the couple said their goodbyes and flooed home.

"Home at last," Draco sighed in contentment as the couple finally arrived back home.

"I've missed this place," Hermione said, collapsing onto the big, comfortable corner sofa that was situated the front room.

"I've missed our bed," Draco remarked, smiling seductively at his wife. "Do you fancy going to get reacquainted with it?"

"I think I can be persuaded," Hermione smiled as she stood up.

Pulling Hermione into his arms, Draco smiled down at his wife before giving her a breath-taking kiss. "I can be very persuasive," He muttered as he re-joined their lips again.

Still kissing, the pair stumbled up the stairs and into their gigantic bedroom. Falling onto the bed, the couple proceeded to celebrate being home in style. As much as they'd enjoyed the wedding and were pleased for Scorpius, they were thrilled to be home and for things to return to normal. And at least when wedding bells next rang for the family they knew it wouldn't involve a seven week trip to England. Lyra and Alex would more than likely get married in France, meaning no traveling was required. Plus they would be dealing with their best friends as parents of the groom, meaning they wouldn't have the same drama that had accompanied Scorpius and Lily's wedding. Unless of course Lyra and Alex came up with some wild way of tying the knot, and knowing those two it could be a very real possibility.

**The End.**

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><p><strong>AN – We've reached the end of yet another story. I want to thank everyone for their mazing support of both this story and all my others. The fantastic support I receive from so many people really does amaze me. I have a fantastic bunch of people who favourite, follow and review almost every story I write, and I just want to say how much I appreciate them. I also appreciate the people who read and review just one story. Every little bit of support really is special to me. **

**As I mentioned on Christmas at Hogwarts, there'll be no more stories from me this year. I will be back in January with plenty more stories. But for now I want to wish my brilliant readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. **


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